Our Leadership

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of Nairobi. He has also attended executive programs in Executive Development at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and in Corporate Governance at Harvard Business School, Harvard University. His banking career spans over 30 years and includes stints at Commercial Bank of Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank N.A culminating in his posting to London to head Citibank’s Emerging Markets Financial institution Business. In 2004, he joined Ghana International Bank PLC London as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, a position he held for over 10 years. Prior to his appointment as Group Chairman, he served as a Non-Executive Director of KCB Bank Kenya from November 2016 and was Chair of the Risk Management and Audit Committees and a member of the HR Committee.

OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS: Andrew is a non-executive director of Dalberg Research Limited, a member of the audit committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London and is also a Trustee of the Citizens Advice Bureau of Caterham and Warlingham, United Kingdom.

Dr. James Obuya Bagaka has extensive experience and expertise in Public Administration, Policy and Strategy.

He has over 12 years’ experience in Public Finance and Budgeting, Governance, Capacity building, Research and Policy Development in both the public and private sectors. Currently, Bagaka provides advisory and consultancy services to public and private organization. Previously, Bagaka worked as the Technical lead on Governance and Institutional strengthening for a DFID-funded program: The Sustainable Urban Economic Development (SUED).

He has a PhD in Public Administration (from Northern Illinois University, USA); M.A. Public Administration (Minnesota State University-USA); B.A. Political Science & Philosophy (University of Nairobi). He is also a Member of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management.

The Government of Kenya has maintained varied levels of ownership in the company since acquisition in 1970. This has been managed through the Office of the Cabinet Secretary Treasury (formerly, Permanent Secretary Treasury). Below is a chronology of the evolution in the ownership:

1. The Government of Kenya acquired 100% shareholding in National and Grindlays Bank in 1970 and re-named it Kenya Commercial Bank (now KCB Group Plc)

2. In 1998, the Government sold 20% of its shares at the NSE through an IPO that saw 120,000 new shareholders acquire the company

3. The Government sold 10%, 10% and 25% in 1990,1996 and 1998 respectively, reducing its shareholding to 35%

4. A series of rights issues in 2004, 2008 and 2010 were conducted by the company, with proceeds channeled towards growing the business and financing regional expansion. The Government opted not to take up its rights effectively diluting its ownership to 26.2%, 23.6% and 17.3% respectively

5. The Board in 2016 introduced a scrip dividend where shareholders received dividends partly in cash and partly as additional shares. The Government took up this offer, marginally increasing its shareholding to the current level of 17.5%.

6. In 2019, KCB Group Plc concluded the acquisition of National Bank of Kenya via swap shares. From the transaction, the C.S. National Treasury, being a shareholder of National Bank, received additional KCB Group Plc shares increasing the total shareholding from 17.5% to 19.76%.

Lawrence holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) degree from Kenyatta University and is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (CPA-K). He has over 20 year’s senior management experience in business strategy, finance, commercial, audit and accounting. He worked at Standard Media Group Kenya Limited as Assistant Group Commercial Director and also served as Group Financial Controller in the same Group. Prior to this, he worked as a senior auditor at KPMG East Africa.

OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS: Lawrence is a non-executive director of Kenya Seed Company Limited where he chairs the Audit committee. He also serves as the Chairman of Simlaw Seeds Company Limited.

Anne has an MBA (Distinction) from the University of Warwick and is a Fellow of the Association of Certified and Chartered Accountants (FCCA) and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Accountants of Kenya (FCPA). She has led provision of audit and related advisory matters services to a wide range of regional and local organisations in various sectors. She recently retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), after 40 years, where she was the Regional Senior Partner and CEO for Eastern Africa and Senior Country Partner Kenya, overseeing 1,500 employees in six African countries. She is widely recognized as one of Africa’s leading professionals in the industry.

She has advised Audit Committees and Boards on financial reporting and internal control matters, including risk and readiness assessment prior to implementation of major financial systems and processes. She serves in non-executive director positions on several boards, provides financial advice at a strategic level and mentors entrepreneurs.

Ahmed Mohamud Mohamed is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and an experienced commercial lawyer specializing in financing agreements and Islamic finance, corporate law, and transactions agreements. He holds a Masters Degree in Law (LLM) and Bachelors of Law Degree (LLB) from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the College of Law, London, England.

Alice Kirenge holds a BCom. in Management and MBA in Strategic Marketing. She is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) USA, a qualified Underwriter, and an Associate in Customer Service. In addition, she has qualifications in Project Management, Enterprise Development and is an Alumnus of Strathmore Business School and the Babson Business School – Boston, Mass USA.

She has several years’ experience in senior management roles in the Corporate World with close to 30 years in the Insurance/Financial services sector. Her experience in the insurance industry includes serving as the General Manager at Monarch Insurance Company, the Director of Operations at CFC Life Insurance Company. She has also had a stint in banking with the CFC Bank Group and also served as General Manager in Health Care and Property Development sectors.

She is a Founder member of the Starehe Girls Centre and has served on the Women’s Enterprises International Board. She currently sits on the Board of Sokoni Women’s Development Initiative and Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Board where she serves as the Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee. She is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD).

Ms. Anuja Pandit holds a Masters in Strategic Management from the United States International University (USIU), Nairobi; a Bachelor of Science, in Accounting and Finance, United States International University (USIU), Nairobi; and an ACI Dealing Certificate from the ACI Financial Markets Association.

A senior banker of almost two decades, Anuja has several years of experience leading diverse teams in Sub-Sahara Africa, having worked with Citibank as Vice President in their Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities (FICC) Sales, and most recently as their Regional Director, driving their digital Strategy in automated trading systems for their Institutional and Corporate Client Base. She has had further experience in leading teams in Africa, that developed and executed strategic business initiatives that delivered revenue and market growth in Sub-Sahara Africa, encompassing foreign exchange products and investment portfolios for their regional, multi-national and local clientele. Anuja currently runs her own consultancy helping property management companies streamline operations and compliance.

Paul Russo was appointed the KCB Group PLC Chief Executive Officer on 25 May 2022.
Prior to this appointment, he served as the Group Regional Business Director, KCB Group Plc and the Managing Director, National Bank of Kenya Limited, a subsidiary of KCB Group. He has over 20 years of work experience spanning executive and key roles including Group HR Director (KCB Group Plc), Receiver Manager (Chase Bank), Head of HR (Barclays Standard Services – Barclays Africa), Regional HR Head and HR Change lead (Barclays Africa), Head of HR (Barclays Tanzania), Head of Human Capital (PwC), Chief HR officer (K-Rep Bank), HR Manager (Unga Holdings) and Acting Compensation and Benefits Manager (Kenya Breweries).

Paul holds an MBA from Strathmore University Business School and a Bachelor of Business Management from Moi University. He also holds a Senior Executive Program for Africa (SEPA) Certificate from Harvard Business School and a Higher Diploma in Human Resource Management from the Institute of Human Resources (Kenya).

Lawrence joined KCB Group in May 2015 as the Chief Finance Officer. He has over 20 years senior leadership experience having worked in a number of multinational organization which include BAT, AIG and East Africa Breweries both in Kenya and UK.

Lawrence Kimathi holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a merit from Warwick Business School UK, a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in accounting from United States International University – Africa (USIU) and is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya, CPA (K). He is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya and Institute of Directors. His senior leadership experience spans over 25 years having worked as Finance Director/CFO in a number of multinational organizations which include Cadbury East and Central Africa, AIG, East Africa Breweries Limited, BAT Sub Sahara Africa and BAT PLC in London.

OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS: Lawrence serves in the KCB Uganda board and is a trustee of the KCB Staff Pension Fund defined benefit scheme.