Too old to run KCC? Give me a break

Kenya Cooperative Creameries chairman Matu Wamae at a past press conference. PHOTO | FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• “It is young people who brought down New KCC. People now want to go there because it has started to make money,” Mr Wamae tells Saturday Nation.
• “Performance precedes age in determining suitability for a job,” he quips, remembering a few years ago when former New KCC managing director Mwangi wa Iria (now Murang’a County Governor) was hounded out of office for “posting impressive results”.
• In fact, he says the team that brought KCC down in the mid 1990s was made up of youthful people. “The looters associated with the KCC downfall during the Moi administration were very youthful.”

By MUCHEMI WACHIRA
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By BILLY MUIRURI
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Matu Wamae loves milk.

One of his best moments is when drinking a glassful of fresh milk, and also when watching his cows produce it.

At one time, recently, Mr Wamae would supply 300 litres of milk to Kiganjo New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) factory from one of his farms at Karundas village in Kieni East constituency every day.

He has more than 100 pedigree cows at the farm, and he could be described as one of Kenya’s top dairy farmers.

But Mr Wamae’s reappointment as chairman of the New KCC has sent tongues wagging.

He is, however, unshaken. In fact, the former Mathira MP (1983-88, and 1992-2002) is comforted that the only reason given against his appointment is that he is too old for a public office appointment.

True, at 75, he is the oldest of the 26 heads of parastatals appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta last week, sparking protests from youthful politicians and other Kenyans.

To him, whether one is 75, 35 or 90 is a non-issue. “Are people opposed to an individual or their performance?” he poses, adding that he would be more concerned if those speaking against his appointment cited inability to deliver as the reason.

The chairman leans on his record at New KCC to call the bluff of those against jobs for the elderly.

“It is young people who brought down New KCC. People now want to go there because it has started to make money,” Mr Wamae tells Saturday Nation

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MONEY MAKER

Former President Mwai Kibaki appointed Mr Wamae to lead the revival of the struggling milk processor after it had been run down during his predecessor’s term in office.

But records now show New KCC has been making profits of more than Sh500 million a year. “We are no longer dependent on the Treasury. We are giving the Treasury money every year,” he says.

When Mr Wamae was appointed chairman in 2003, there were only two operational factories – Sotik and Dandora. Only 30 staff were left and they were collecting a meagre 30,000 litres of milk daily countrywide.

But today, the story is different. KCC now has 1,500 workers on its payroll, and takes up 300,000 litres of milk daily.

From a loss making outfit, Mr Wamae says it is management skills and prudence that have seen the milk processor back to profit-making.

“I have led revival of this institution. There are 11 full working factories, 11 cooling plants, 40 satellite cooling plants and eight depots,” he says.
That’s not enough. The chairman offers that during his tenure, the company has acquired machinery worth Sh2 billion, and that they have been paying the dairy farmer Sh41 per litre — and on a regular basis.

But even in the company he runs, the youngsters have their place.

He says one of their key secrets was to employ young graduates to align the vision of the boardroom with expectations of a modern corporate organisation.

“Or what do you say of our digital status? All our systems are computerised,” he boasts.

And he came to the defence of the others appointed by Mr Kenyatta like former head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, saying they have vast experience needed for success of a young government.

TOO GOOD AT THE JOB

“Performance precedes age in determining suitability for a job,” he quips, remembering a few years ago when former New KCC managing director Mwangi wa Iria (now Murang’a County Governor) was hounded out of office for “posting impressive results”.

“It was unfortunate that the former Cooperatives minister Joe Nyaga did not like the young man. I defended Mwangi but politics was blind to performance and it carried the day,” he says.

Mr Wamae lashes out at the young generation that is opposed to elderly leaders. “We need to combine talent and experience. When I was with Mwangi (who was in his late 30s) and I was in my late 60s, we made a great team. You cannot say only the young can perform.”

In Mr Wamae’s books, the younger a leader is, the more appetite they are likely to have to loot and enrich themselves.

In fact, he says the team that brought KCC down in the mid 1990s was made up of youthful people. “The looters associated with the KCC downfall during the Moi administration were very youthful.”

Besides a glass of milk, Mr Wamae still enjoys a Tusker Malt at his Ngong Hills Hotel , Nairobi, most evenings. A traditionalist, he still has strong teeth to munch githeri.

“I am quite healthy, both physically and mentally. I can still run this giant organisation to keep pace with private competitors,” he says.
His fourth term has just started.

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MATU WAMAE'S EXPERINCE
‘I have Midas touch for country’s growing successful factories’

Mr Wamae has worked in many key positions for decades and claims to have established 90 factories during his tenure as executive director at the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation ( ICDC).

Early in the 1960s, he was a general manager at the Central Bank of Kenya.

A 1963 Bachelor of Arts in Economics graduate from New Delhi University, Mr Wamae went for further training at the Bank of England and Reserve Bank of America.

Through ICDC, he claims a midas touch in establishing most of the country’s factories or manufacturing industries.

Some of the industrial projects he claims to have started include General Motors, Uchumi Supermarkets, and Coca Cola bottling plants in Nyeri and Eldoret.

It is during this time that Industrial Development Bank was started.

For his performance at New KCC, he was appointed a director of Kenya Dairy Board and Central Artificial Insemination Centre at Kabete.

Mr Wamae is convinced that New KCC requires steady and unyielding leadership for it to survive competition in the liberalised market.

“We have to compete with a company like Brookside, which recently bought Molo Milk. It has bought other milk processing companies and if New KCC fails, Brookside will be left to enjoy the monopoly,” he told the Saturday Nation in a telephone interview.

He first won the Mathira seat in 1983 before losing to President Moi’s ally Davidson Kuguru in the sham 1988 mlolongo elections.

He recaptured the seat in 1992 and was re-elected in 1997. He, however, lost in 2002 to Mr Nderitu Gachagua (now Nyeri County Governor) after which he retired from active politics.