NEWS (KENYA): Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore’s Paycheck Breaks the Internet, But Why He Did Will Surprise You

A fortnight ago, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore, appeared on Citizen TV where he promised to declare his wealth after President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled his plan to fight corruption both in the public and private sector.

It was a clear way of Mr. Collymore to say, I have nothing to hide, and Kenyans were eagerly waiting to see if the CEO of one of Kenya’s most profitable companies, would keep his promise.

And this morning the man at the top of Safaricom, proved true to his word sharing his annual pay slip salary and wealth declaration on the company’s website.

The declaration left many Kenyans bewildered as to exactly how much the CEO is worth and earns, clearly Bob laughs all the way to the bank at the end of the month.

It showed Bob Collymore has earned Sh110 million ($1.07 million) in the last 12 months, meaning he earns at least Sh9 million a month and holds assets worth Sh277 million ($2.7 million).

Mr. Collymore also owns land and buildings (residential house) in London, England worth Sh54 million ($530,000), Sh20.7 million ($203,000) as cash balances in local banks and Sh95.4 million ($935,000) in UK banks.

The CEO further holds Safaricom shares valued at Sh18.4 million ($180,000) and Vodafone PLC shares worth Sh88.8 million ($871,000).

But before we all get carried away with just how much Mr. Collymore is worth, let’s not forget the intentions behind his actions. All this is from Collymore’s 30 years of hard work.

Perhaps all the leaders in the Kenyan society should follow suit and declare their wealth and its source.

Earlier on, the CEO also declared that Safaricom would not work with any person or company blacklisted for corruption by the government.