Kenya Re insurance chairperson Nelius Wanjiru Kariuki on June 16, 2015. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO
In a country where women directors are a rarity on company
boards, Mrs Nelius Wanjiru Kariuki can easily claim to be a trailblazer.
The confident gait as she strides into her office and the unmistakable
aura of authority partly tell the story of how she has successfully
steered an organisation worth more than Sh85 billion for more than a
decade.
And when she retires as chair
of the Kenya Reinsurance board next Friday, Mrs Kariuki, 64, says there
will be no doubt the corporation is in a better place than she found it
and the case for more female directors in boards has been strengthened.
Just
days before she calls it a day, and even though her work didn’t call
for her coming to the office daily — board meetings are held every
quarter — she admits she will take time to get over the trappings of
power.
“I would not be truthful if I
said that I will not miss the trappings of power,” she tells Lifestyle
from her office on the 16th floor of Nairobi’s Reinsurance Plaza. “Power
is about the decisions and the accomplishments; the honour and respect
you are given. Those are the trappings that get into our heads and we
want to enjoy them for longer.”
As
chair of Kenya-Re, a corporation whose mandate is to offer insurance
cover to insurance companies, Mrs Kariuki is credited with midwifing the
public listing of the firm in 2007 when it was in its 36th year and
helping the wobbly giant to gain a firm footing.
For
Mrs Kariuki, the numbers are telling. For instance, Kenya-Re made a
Sh3.1 billion profit in 2014, up from Sh3 billion in 2013. When she took
over in January 2007, the year’s profit was Sh838 million.
USEFUL ELSEWHERE
When
she calls it a day, Mrs Kariuki will be turning a new leaf in her life,
having worked in the civil service between 1974 and 1990 then returning
to work for Kenya-Re in 2003 — first as a board member, then as the
first Kenyan woman board chair.
It
was while chairing Kenya-Re that she became the first woman to ring the
bell at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (now Nairobi Securities Exchange).
Such
feats will be accompanied by other accolades. She was among the first
girls from Murang’a to be admitted to the prestigious Alliance Girls’
High School and the only woman in a class of 15 students who graduated
with a major in Economics at the University of Nairobi’s class of 1974.
Having
led a firm that covers more than 40 insurance companies in Kenya, at
least one insurer in every African country except South Africa and
clients in Asia and the Middle East, one would assume that Mrs Kariuki
has had enough of the boardroom and wishes to retire to the countryside
to enjoy her pension.
Well, she says
she will have more free time, which she plans to spend in interacting
with her grandchildren — she has seven of them — and play golf for
longer. She has been trying to play twice a week but her obligations
have not been letting her pursue her favourite sport. She also hopes she
will find more time to serve at the PCEA church in Loresho where she
fellowships.
Nelius Kariuki follows her shot in the Kenya
Airways Golf safari series at Vet Lab Sports club on March 7, 2015.
PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU(NAIROBI)
But
the mother of four, whose youngest child is aged 30, says it’s not over
yet. She still has the energy to take on new responsibilities, whether
in the private or public sector.
“I
would like other institutions to utilise my knowledge,” she says. “I
have experience which I feel can be useful in other places, and more so
because I have been trained a lot in governance.”
Such
is the zeal packed in the career civil servant, who says she decided
not to vie for a third term at the helm of Kenya-Re because “I have been
there long enough and I need to give someone else a chance”.
Her
life story is about a firstborn girl whose desire to please her parents
saw her amass good grades in school, get admitted to university and
then fall in love with a man who would be a one-time Makuyu MP and later
an assistant minister — and who is now the Speaker of the Murang’a
County Assembly.
“We got married when
I was a university student and he supported me — even through my
post-graduate studies. He has been really supportive,” she says of her
husband, Mr Nduati Kariuki.
Her
career story is of a woman who worked as an economist in the Planning
ministry for 16 years before taking early retirement in 1990 at the age
of 39. She ventured into a private family business, Nelleon Development
Company, which she runs to date with her husband.
Outgoing Kenya Re chairperson Nelius Kariuki and
her husband Nduati Kariuki who is the Speaker of the Murang'a County
Assembly. PHOTO | COURTESY
As
the board chair, her story is about a firm but democratic leader who
took over the leadership of Kenya-Re when it was in the middle of a
financial scandal and led it into the clear before overseeing the giant
corporation’s rebranding in 2012.
SOFT POWER
The corporation’s chief executive Jadiah Mwarania says Mrs Kariuki’s leadership of board meetings has been exemplary.
“Her
style of leadership is very democratic. In board meetings, decisions
are made by consensus. There is a deliberate effort to bring on board as
many members as possible. I have actually not seen any decision made on
the basis of voting; there is a general building of consensus. Her
style is democratic and inclusive,” Mr Mwarania says.
Those who have worked with her say she does not try to adopt a manly demeanour for her to gain respect.
“She
is very feminine and that is something I admire because when women have
high-profile jobs, they come out as very tough and dress in a very
masculine way, with dark suits and all,” says Ms Jane Odipo, Kenya-Re’s
manager in charge of business development.
On the day of the interview, Mrs Kariuki was dressed in a yellow, black and blue kitenge, with a handbag and shoes to match.
Ms Odipo, however, says the board chair can be very tough when she decides to crack the whip.
“I’ve
seen her do so a number of times when she sees cases of indiscipline.
Whenever she is around, people are in their best behaviour, which I
think is a good thing,” says Ms Odipo.
Mrs Kariuki attributes her work ethic to her training in governance and understanding her roles.
“My
training has taught me to be a more open-minded person, to be open not
only to other people’s ideas but also to think and analyse situations
and to be open to options,” she says.
Her appointment to the chair started in a “small” way. She remembers receiving a call in January 2007 while in a salon.
“I was called by the company secretary, who told me that I have been appointed the chair,” she says.
That
would come as a surprise because, having served in the board whose
three-year term had expired in December 2006, she knew it would be an
honour to be called back as a member. Now here was a call telling her
she was to return not just as a board member but as chairperson, taking
over from Mr Charles Kibicho, who has since died. The appointment was
done by then Finance minister Amos Kimunya.
“I was in a salon having my hair done, and it took me a bit of time for the issue to sink in,” she says.
She
remembers taking over office without a handover because the regulations
at that time were that the whole board should be out when a new one
comes in. Now the corporation has a succession plan and a rotational
retirement arrangement.
TOUGH CHOICES
The
first task that faced her was to repair the image of Kenya-Re, which
had been sullied by extensive media coverage over allegations that
senior managers had been involved in malpractices.
“All
over the media, there were reports of misappropriation of funds and
corruption. The malpractice had happened secretly for a period of time,
and it involved some people diverting money meant to pay for people’s
loans. Instead of that money coming to the company, it went to
somebody’s account to pay for a mortgage,” she says.
The
situation called for what she says was one of the toughest decisions
she has ever made. Her first job as the chair was to write letters
sacking two top managers.
“It was difficult because these are people I had worked with earlier for three years,” she says.
Talking
of tough decisions, Mrs Kariuki says the period of Kenya-Re
transitioning from an entity owned fully by the government to one that
is partly owned by other shareholders needed her to be firm.
“Having
come from a full parastatal to a partly private company, we had to
change the culture and the mind-set of the staff. That is something that
makes you focused and sometimes you have to say things that are not
very palatable,” she says.
Kenya-Re is 60 per cent owned by the government and 40 per cent by the public.
But even with her desire to have things done her way, those who have worked with her say she does not micro-manage people.
“I
don’t find her micro-managing Kenya- Re. She lets managers do their job
and only provides the guidance,” says Ms Odipo, the business
development manager.
And Mr Mwarania, the CEO, notes: “She will be missed for her friendly style of management.”
On
her style of leading the giant company, Mrs Kariuki says: “My job here
is to give directions for the whole organisation, not to look at small,
individual, micro things. It is important to have trust and confidence
in the people you have appointed to manage.”
A young Nelius Kariuki (left) takes part in a play at Alliance Girls’ High School. PHOTO | COURTESY
Under
her leadership, Kenya-Re has reached various milestones that include
attaining a good financial strength rating of B+ from AM Best Company in
2007; attaining and maintaining a claims paying ability rating of AA
from the Global Credit Rating Agency; attaining and retaining the ISO
9001:2008 standard and opening an office in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in
2010.
After her exit, Mrs Kariuki
will cease being a board member of ZEP-RE, a regional preferential trade
area reinsurance company, which she occupied by virtue of her position
as chairperson.
She is currently reading Hard Choices by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
MENTORING GIRLS
“I
look at her and marvel,” she says. “She was once an opponent of
(President Barack) Obama and was able to take an office under him. It
teaches me that you have to look at the wider good, because if she
harboured the thought that he was her opponent the way we are used to
with our politicians, she would not have taken the job.”
Aside
from the boardroom, she loves to inspire other people, especially
girls, to aim higher in life. “Mentoring girls is my favourite subject. I
not only like to talk about girls but also some people’s dreams being
valid. Lupita Nyong’o’s statement about people’s dreams being valid was
very important,” she says.
As the
interview progresses, Mrs Kariuki frequently excuses herself to answer
her phone. Of note is that her favourite song of all time is the
ringtone: Munduiriri (God my Vindicator) by Carol Wanjiru.
“It
is a praise song and appreciates God,” says Mrs Kariuki. “The chorus
says that God does fearsome and wonderful things beyond what the world
expects. I like the song because God has been gracious and wonderful. He
has done more than I would have expected.”
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