Making questionable appointments
Posted by African Press International on July 24, 2008
Posted by Njano Shabani
It is now confirmed that the final decisionformer Finance Minister Amos Kimunya made before clearing his desk after he was asked to resign was theappointment ofMs. Stella Kilonzo as the Chief Executive of the Kenya Capital Markets Authority from a shortlist offour candidates submitted by the firm of KHI Hawkins & Associates Consultants, that included frontrunner Mr. J. Muthala from Toronto Canada, Chris Mwebesa the CEO Nairobi Stock Exchange and former MP and shadow Minister of Finance in the last parliament, Mr. Billow Okerrow.
Former CMA chief executive Edward Ntalami quit his position in December 2007, his departure was immediately followed by the exit of Ms. Christine Mweti, the Head of Legal Services who was second in comand at CMA but has since moved to Rennaissance Capital.Her unexpected departurepaved the way for Stella who substantively held the position of Manager Compliance and Market Supervision to be appointed to act in the position of CMA Chief Executive.
Theconfirmationof Stella Kilonzo at the helm of theCMAis not surprisingbecauseshe has been Kimunya’ssecret lover since December 2007, when she was first appointed to act in the position after the sudden exit of Mr. Edward Ntalami as Chief Executive. Those in the know have confided that Amos Kimunya fell over heels in love with stella during the Safaricom IPO launch dinner dance,when heopened thefloor with her in his arms. They sat together throughout with Kimunya constantlywhispering sweet words and thereafter left together for the the night.
It is reported that during the dance,Bob Karina, the Vice-Chairman of Nairobi Stock Exchange became very agitated and furious at Kimunya formesmerizing Stella with power and ultimatelysnatchingheraway from . Apparently Bob and Stell have been loverssinceSeptember 2005, when they met atthe NSE dinner party soon after her appointment at CMA, it was love at first sight.
However, the truth of the matter is that Stella a graduate of Catholic University in Langata, is a single mother after deserting her husband in Chicago, USA in 2004 immediately after completing her education. her husband, Mr. Kilonzo is credited with financing her higher higher educationthat enabled her secure an MBA and CPA.
Meanwhile, Stella’s elevation to the post of Chief Executive has created a lot of tension at CMA, and many senior staff are worried about their future career and seriously contemplating their exit to avoid the wrath ofJohnstone Oltetia, a junior but very influential Compliance Officer terrorizing everybody. It is a open secreta that Oltetiais also Stella’s lover and the father of her baby born in early 2007. Apparently Oltetiais a maternal nephew ofthe CMA Chairman Professor Chege Waruingi and acts as the spymaster but unfortunately he runs roughshod over anyone who crosses his path and has been nicknamed ‘the Bull in a China Shop”.
Stella’s appointment comes in the wake of serious finacial malpracticesby two brokerage firms; namely Nyaga Stockbrokers andFrancis Thuo Stockbrokers who have defrauded investorsof hundreds of million of shillings apparently underStella’s watch as the Manager Market Compliance and Supervision. It is apparent that, CMA under Stella does not have the capacity to supervise nor undertake due diligence on themode of operation and conduct of the member firms of the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). Stella’s stewardship during her acting appointment has tended to move at a snail pace andit is obvious that she lacks theindependence, persona and expertise required tooperate in a fast changing world of financial markets.
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API
