Kenya Power’s Supplies and Procurement boss Bernard Ngugi has on Tuesday been appointed as the CEO effective immediately, replacing embattled Ken Tarus.
Jared Otieno has been acting since CEO Ken Tarus was charged with economic crimes and abuse of office in July last year.
Ngugi is an insider at Kenya Power having worked for the energy distributor company for at least 30 years. He was charged alongside his predecessor Ben Chumo and other senior managers.
Interestingly, Ngugi testified against nine suspects, including Tarus, who are charged with conspiring to commit an economic crime by failing to comply with procurement procedures and guidelines in April this year. This resulted in the fraudulent payment of Sh159 million to companies unprocedurally pre-qualified to offer labour and transport services
Speaking during the unveiling of the new boss, Kenya Power board chairman Amb Mahboub Maalim said, “We believe that Mr Ngugi will see the company through an important stage of its development and growth as we work to diligently implement all our plans to strengthen the Company and the commercial aspects of our business”.
Ngugi said he will focus on profitability.
“My immediate focus is to lead the company towards improved profitability while ensuring the business fulfills its socio-economic purpose. This will be achieved by implementing our 5 Year Strategic Plan that broadly aims at delivering excellent customer service and ensuring our business sustainability,” he said.
PROFILE:
He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi and a Masters of Business Administration, Accounting and Finance, from the same in the same institution.
Ngugi is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.
He is also a Certified Public Secretary of Kenya and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya.
Between March 2004 and October 2009, he was the chief accountant in the Treasury section heading Nairobi region’s Finance department.
