Wilfred Mutuku Musau has been confirmed by the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) as the chief executive of the lender for a five-year term effective on Monday.
Mr. Musau who has been holding the fort for the past seven months in an acting capacity charged with steering the bank back to profitability before his confirmation.
The appointment of Mr. Musau comes at a time National Bank is in a storm punctuated by declining earnings, capital inadequacy, a mounting volume of bad loans, and corporate governance queries.
“The board of directors of NBK is confident with Wilfred Musau’s leadership credentials,” said the NBK’s chairman Mohamed Abdirahman Hassan in a notice.
“The board wishes to assure NBK shareholders, stakeholders, and the general public that the bank’s promise on its strategic ambition is on track,” reads a statement from the board.
He takes over from Munir Sheikh Ahmed who was sacked by the board together with five other senior managers.
National Bank’s net profit in the half year to June tumbled to Sh311.2 million from Sh1.7 billion in 2015. The volume of bad loans at the State-owned lender more than quadrupled to Sh27.3 billion in the period under review.