Kenyan pilots want KQ board, CEO out

By Staff writer
A lobby group wants board Chairman, some board members and Chief executive of Kenya Airways to leave office immediately, just one week after the airline announced a net loss of Sh26.2billion in the year ended March.
The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) wants the aforementioned to cede their positions with immediate effect, expressing its dissatisfaction with the efforts being executed in the airline’s resurgence – saying the airline’s boss Mbuvi Ngunze, ‘lacks the necessary experience and moral authority to continue to lead KQ.”
“Kenya Airways desperately needs new leadership and direction. Under Mr. Ngunze’s watch and the so-called watchful eye of the Board, he has failed to clearly articulate the reasons behind the sorry state of the company’s fortunes,” said Captain Paul Gichinga, Secretary General of KALPA.
The announcement comes barely four months after the Union had in April called for a two-day industrial action calling for the resignation of Mbuvi Ngunze – whom they accuse of mismanaging the airline and is in the office ‘illegally’ courtesy of the board’s blessings.
The 8-hour strike saw Human Resource director Alban Mwenda, airline safety director Alex Avedi and flight operations director Captain Paul Mwangi all relinquish their positions as part of an agreement to end a stalemate between KQ and its pilots.
The lobby also wants the forensic audit on the airline concluded which is hopes will unearth the deep rooted corruption in the company.
“Sadly to date this has not been concluded,” said Gichinga.
Audit firm Deloitte is expected to release its findings on the ‘exact’ value loss of KQ’s fortunes.
Yesterday one member of the association who did not want to be mentioned said he was not ruling out a possibility that Mr. Ngunze was being ‘protected’ by some individuals within the board, and further claimed that the airline’s net loss could be over Sh40billion in what he suspects could have been caused by what he called Asset Stripping.
Asset stripping is a process of buying an undervalued company with the intent to sell off its assets for a profit. The individual assets of the company, such as its equipment and property, may be more valuable than the company as whole due to factors like poor management or poor economic conditions.