Poaching of company secretaries hits NSE firms

The Nairobi Securities Exchange. Companies listed on the bourse have intensified talent war in search of company secretaries. FILE 

By DAVID HERBLING

In Summary

• At least 10 corporates listed on bourse have tapped experienced talent from their rivals over the past six months.

Poaching of company secretaries has hit firms listed on the Nairobi bourse as the low-key position increasingly gets prominence in the board and executive suite.

At least 10 companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have appointed a new company secretary over the past six months with East African Breweries Limited, National Bank and KCB raiding rivals for this position.

Analysts linked the rising demand for secretaries, which triggered the poaching, to increased regulatory workload and the need for prompt legal advice during board and executive meetings.

The growing importance of the job is also seeing men taking the position that has traditionally been filled by women given that last year female company secretaries made up  33 of the 55 available for the firms listed on the main segment of NSE.

“The increased regulatory requirements have been a key contributor in the growing prominence of company secretaries,” said Conrad Nyukuri, partner at Axis Kenya, a company secretary services firm.

“Companies are also increasingly dealing with third parties hence the need by boards to have someone to review and provide legal advice on tender documents, contracts, proposals and check for compliance.”

As a result, the hitherto lowly post is getting a wider role in the formulation of strategy at the directorship level — which has encouraged firms to search for talent from competitors.

EABL set off the talent war early this year when it poached Ruth Ngobi from cigarette maker British American Tobacco Kenya.

The retirement of long serving company secretaries at National Bank and KCB Group following a shake-up of the lender’s executive suite, prompted the two banks to raid peers at the Nairobi bourse for replacements.

National Bank in July tapped Habil Waswani to replace Leonard Kamweti, who has been the bank’s company secretary since 1996.

KCB, which kicked off a major revamp of its executive suite with the appointment of Joshua Oigara as CEO in January, hired Joseph Kania in July from Housing Finance to replace David Malakwen who joined the bank in 1994.

Other firms like Standard Group and CMC Motors went for secretaries with experience in serving NSE-listed companies.

CMC, which is recovering from a vicious boardroom war, early this year appointed Nelly Matheka, who quit a similar position at the Standard Group. The appointment of Ms Matheka was part of a list of conditions set by the capitals market regulator to restore order.  

Lapses in the functions company secretary — whose role is to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and keeping directors informed of their legal responsibilities — were partly to blame for corporate governance breaches at the auto dealer.#

Standard Group, two weeks ago, hired Ronald Lubya to fill the vacant position. Mr Lubya worked in a similar position at EABL and previously served in Safaricom’s legal department.