Safaricom picks insider as corporate affairs director

Safaricom has announced the appointment of Stephen Chege (pictured, below) to the position of Director – Corporate Affairs. Mr Chege takes over from Nzioka Waita, who left the company last week following his appointment to the government as the Secretary for Delivery.

An advocate of the High Court, Mr Chege will lead the company’s Corporate Affairs team in delivering strategic external relations with its stakeholders and regulators. The division is responsible for safeguarding Safaricom’s interests and reputation with key industry groups such as the Communications Authority of Kenya, Competition Authority, Central Bank of Kenya among others and hosts the Legal, Regulatory, Corporate Responsibility and Public Relations departments.

“In his time at Safaricom, Mr Chege has greatly enhanced our relationships with key industry partners and delivered on major regulatory challenges in an increasingly complex business environment. He brings a wealth of experience spanning over 10 years in the telecommunications industry in different capacities and I am confident of his ability to provide stable direction as the company enters a new phase of growth,” said Mr Bob Collymore CEO Safaricom.

Mr Chege joined Safaricom in January 2006 as inhouse counsel. In 2007, he was seconded to the Vodafone Group Public Policy team in the UK and was appointed Senior Manager Public Policy & Market Regulation in 2008. In July 2011 he was appointed Head of Regulatory & Public Policy where he has distinguished himself in delivering sound guidance on important regulatory and competition issues as well as developing meaningful relationships with key regulators.

Mr Chege is currently a member of a Taskforce established under the ICT Ministry to develop a Policy Framework and Critical Infrastructure Bill for the protection of critical infrastructure. An advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Mr. Chege holds a Masters in Law (LL.M) in International Trade & Investment Law from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B) from the same University. He is also a Certified Public Secretary.