Corporate News
By DAVID HERBLING31
In Summary
- Mr Marende received the highest number of votes in an election where all former directors who were seeking re-election lost out, including chairman Eliazar Ochola, Patrick Obath and Jacob Mwirigi.
- The election results reveal that the State engineered the boardroom coup that kicked out Kenya Power chairman along with two other non-executive directors.
- The newly elected directors stand to earn Sh0.6 million in fees per annum, among other allowances.
Former House Speaker Kenneth Marende has been elected a board member of Kenya Power, marking a return to a public institution following his exit from parliament two years ago.
Mr Marende received the highest number of votes in an
election where all former directors who were seeking re-election lost
out, including chairman Eliazar Ochola, Patrick Obath and Jacob Mwirigi.
Kenya Power shareholders voted in new faces,
including lawyer Adil Khawaja, a managing partner at Hamilton Harrison
& Mathews, and stockbroker Wilson Kimutai to join the company’s
board.
“The three persons have been elected by the
shareholders as directors of the company,” said Beatrice Meso, Kenya
Power company secretary, in regulatory filings to the Capital Markets
Authority (CMA).
The polling results show that the government
supported the bid by Messrs Marende, Khawaja and Kimutai given the
State’s 50.08 per cent stake that is crucial for anyone to sail through
as a director in the utility firm.
Kenya Power has about 27,000 shareholders who exercise weighted voting rights — where one’s vote is equivalent to their stake.
The election results reveal that the State
engineered the boardroom coup that kicked out Kenya Power chairman along
with two other non-executive directors.
Mr Ochola, 66, joined the board in December 2006 and was appointed chairman in March 2010 by then president Mwai Kibaki.
A former chairman of the Kenya Private Sector
Alliance (Kepsa) Mr Obath, 59, joined the Kenya Power board in December
2009. Mr Mwirigi, 69, also joined the board at the same time.
The newly elected directors stand to earn Sh0.6 million in fees per annum, among other allowances.
Kenya Power has a nine-member board which is heavy
on government appointees, including managing director Ben Chumo, Energy
PS Joseph Njoroge and Treasury PS Kamau Thugge.
The electricity distributor’s payments to directors
surged nearly two-thirds to Sh67.3 million in the period to June 2014
from Sh40.9 million a year earlier.
Shareholders last week approved a motion setting
the fees for non-executive directors at Sh0.6 million per year for the
year ended June 2014.
Its total emoluments to directors grew by a tenth to hit Sh142.7 million in the period under review.
Its total emoluments to directors grew by a tenth to hit Sh142.7 million in the period under review.
“Directors are entitled to sitting allowance for
every meeting attended, lunch allowance, accommodation and mileage
reimbursement where applicable...” Kenya Power says in its latest annual
report.
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