The three managers are part of the six other top officials who had been suspended last month and immediately proceeded on compulsory leave after they were accused of mismanagement and questionable transactions/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 25 – Three suspended top managers at National Bank of Kenya (NBK) that includes the Chief Executive Officer Munir Ahmed, Chief Finance Officer Chris Kisire as well as the Executive Director in charge of corporate institutional and business banking Boniface Biko have been fired.
The three managers are part of the six other top officials who had been suspended last month and immediately proceeded on compulsory leave after they were accused of mismanagement and questionable transactions.
According to the NBK Board of Directors, the six had been surrounded by numerous accusations including illegal loan disbursement, high number of staff turnover and audit related queries.
In the interim, the Board has appointed Wilfred Musau as acting CEO, while Henry Maosa will take over as the Chief Finance Officer.
Reuben Koech will also perform the role of Executive Director in charge of corporate institutional and business banking in acting capacity.
The bank has been in the spotlight over staff exits under its five-year transformation strategy meant to elevate the lender to a top-tier bank by 2017.
Moreover, the bank announced a Sh1.18 billion loss after tax in its 2015 financial year results compared to the Sh1.203 billion profit before tax it made during a similar period last year.
The loss was attributed to heavy provisions and loan impairment charge which increased by Sh3.2 billion over the period.
The bank’s total assets however grew to Sh125 billion during the period under review, up from 2014’s Sh122 billion.
On the other hand, the bank’s total liabilities jumped to Sh114.3 billion from Sh110.7 billion.
Its net loans and advances to customers stood at Sh67.8 billion up from ShSh65.6 billion.
Customer deposits on the other hand grew to Sh110.6 billion, up from 2014’s 104.7 billion.
Net interest income during the financial year declined from Sh6.7 billion to Sh6.4 billion. On the other hand, the total operating expenses stood at Sh11.1 billion up from Sh7.4 billion.
The board of directors did not recommend the payment of dividends.
The Kenya Bankers Association plans to introduce a new self regulating framework, by the end of June this year aimed at enhancing governance in the banking sector.
The new framework governed by KBA will see introduction of punitive measures against banks that do not adhere to the rules.
