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Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore gets parastatal job

Wednesday May 08 2019
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Safaricom chief executive, Mr Bob Collymore. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By AGGREY OMBOKI

Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore has been appointed as a board member for the National Cancer Institute.

A gazette notice on Monday by Health CS Sicily Kariuki named him among the appointment parastatal heads and members.

Mr Collymore recently indicated he intends to quit his Safaricom CEO post in August due to what he termed “health reasons”.

Safaricom is East and Central Africa region’s biggest telco services provider.

So far, the government’s insistence that a Kenyan take his place has delayed the announcement of his successor.

Mr Collymore, a Briton, took nine months off in 2017 to receive treatment for cancer in England.

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According to a source who spoke with Reuters, Mr Collymore “wants to concentrate on his health so he did not wish to renew his contract.”

Appointees to the National Cancer Institute will serve for the next three years.

Also appointed to the board are the Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations (Kenco) chairperson David Makumi and Citizen TV’s Mercy Oburu.

Ms Oburu, a cancer survivor, is the Digital Content Manager at Royal Media Services (RMS) which owns Citizen TV and a number of radio stations. She is also a board member of the Africa Cancer Foundation.

Kenco chairman David Makumi has been at the forefront of articulating the plight and concerns of Kenyans living with cancer for over a decade.

The National Cancer Institute is a corporate body established under the Cancer Control Act and serves as the coordinating body for all cancer control activities in Kenya.

The institute’s main mandate is to “advise the Cabinet Secretary of Health on the overall priorities that should be accorded to cancer prevention and control in Kenya”.

According to its website, “the main activities include general oversight, coordination of all activities, advocacy and awareness creation, cancer registration and coordinating cancer research”.

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