Meet Our Team
The board provides strategic leadership and fiduciary oversight as it works to ensure progress toward organizational goals.
Board Members
Michael Joseph was appointed Chairman of Kenya Airways PLC in October 2016. He is also a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Vodacom Group South Africa, MFS Africa and Safaricom Plc. Michael is also an advisor to the Vodafone Group mostly related to mobile financial services and Safaricom PLC.
He was until October 2017 employed by Vodafone Group Services Limited as the Director of Mobile Money and was responsible for leading the strategic growth and development of successful M-Pesa proposition across the Vodafone footprint.
Michael is also the Chairman of Safaricom Plc, and is its founding CEO, where he steered the company from a subscriber base of less than 18,000 in 2000 to over 17 million subscribers at his retirement in November 2010 making it the most successful company in East Africa. This phenomenal growth straddling nearly a decade was notable for the launch of many innovative products and services. He was behind the launch of the highly successful and phenomenal growth of M-Pesa and its related service.
Michael is the recipient of many awards, including CEO of the year awarded by the Kenya Institute of Management and the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (award given by the President of Kenya to those who have made a positive impact in Kenya). He has extensive international experience in company start-ups, the implementation and operation of large wireless and wire-line networks. He is also a keen conservationist and serves as Chairman of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, a leading conservancy in Northern Kenya.
Allan has been at the helm of Kenya Airways since April 2020 as the airline's Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. He replaced Sebastian Mikosz whose term ended on 31 December 2019. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Jambojet Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Kenya Airways PLC.
Allan took over this role right at the beginning of a very difficult time for Kenya Airways and the aviation industry in general. He has managed to navigate the airline through these turbulent times and keep the planes flying through a string of measures and initiatives.
With over 23 years’ experience in leadership and management, and extensive knowledge and experience in the Africa business environment, Allan has proven success in new organization set ups, change management, financial planning, integrations, process improvement and company compliance and responsible strategic leadership. He was also integral to the turnaround of two GE Africa businesses: GE Power Services Africa and GE Industrial Solutions, both based in South Africa.
Allan started his career at Deloitte East Africa in Nairobi, where he specialized in Audit, Accounting, Outsourcing and Custodianship. He later joined GE as the Africa share service leader and held various senior leadership roles in GE businesses and in GE Corporate both in Kenya and South Africa before joining Jambojet Limited.
Allan has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Nairobi and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology from the University of Liverpool. He has trained at GE’s world class Crotonville Leadership Institute in New York, USA in Executive Leadership, Advanced Management and Financial Planning. He is also a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
Mr. Kingori was elected to the Board on 14th June 2024. He has over 30 years of extensive public sector experience gained locally and internationally. During his long career, he has had many interactions and engagements with the private sector institutions. Festus is a seasoned professional with a deep knowledge and experience in public financial management and public policy, as well as corporate governance, in both public and private sector institutions in which Government has investment interests.
He has participated in many successful corporate restructurings, including some of the most successful corporate turnarounds and IPOs in Kenya. As a seasoned senior officer at the National Treasury, he participated in many capacities in policy-oriented transactions. He was constantly a key member in transaction teams focussed on corporate restructuring, divestiture and privatization, and often as a team leader of key transaction sub-committees.
Festus has extensive board experience and, over a period of more than twenty years, served as Alternate Director representing the National Treasury, on boards of many state corporations and private companies in which Government has investment interest. He was the pioneer secondee by the GoK on a six-month practical and professional programme to the World Bank in 2006, where he gained valuable exposure to perspectives of multilateral agencies as well as public financial management in other countries.
Festus is trained in corporate governance and is a full member of the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) as well as the Institute of Certified Investment and Financial Analysts (ICIFA).
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Nairobi. He also holds a post graduate certificate in Investment Appraisal and Management from Harvard University, among others. He has also undergone extensive training in general management, strategic leadership and financial management locally and abroad.
Mr. Mohamed Daghar was appointed the Principal Secretary, State Department for Transport in the Ministry of Roads and Transport on Wednesday, 2nd November 2022. He is responsible for the Transport Policy formulation and execution, development of regulatory framework for transport sector, oversee implementation of various transport programmes and projects designed to realise efficient, reliable and seamless transport connectivity envisioned in vision 2030 under Road, Rail, Air and Maritime modes of Transport.
In addition, as Principal Secretary in charge of State Department for Transport, he is responsible for providing guidance, direction and oversight on service delivery by various State Corporations and Government Agencies. As the Principal Secretary in charge of Transport, he is a member of the Executive Committee of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) and therefore he is responsible for all matters relating to NCTTCA.
Mr. Mohamed is a holder of BA International Relations from United States International University, Kenya, Masters in Peace, Conflict and Development studies from Universitat Jaume I, Spain. He has wealth of experience in safety and security matters. During his tenure, he is expected to steer the State Department to successfully implement mass transit system in Nairobi, develop and improve airports and airstrips, seaport and inland water ports, Nairobi Railway City, the Standard Gauge Railway and multimodal transport corridors in addition to revitalisation of road transport services and safety among other projects of strategic national importance.
Alex Mbuvi was appointed as the alternate director to the Principal Secretary, State Department of Transport In December 2023. He is Chief State Counsel at the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice, currently on deployment at the Ministry of Roads and Transport. Alex has previously sat in the Board of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), and Kenya Deposit Protection Corporation (KDPC) as alternate director. He currently sits in Engineers Board of Kenya in the same capacity.
Alex holds a Bachelor of Social Laws, Bachelor of Law and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law. He is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
Mr. Raphael Owino Otieno is the Director General of the Public Debt Management Office, bringing with him nearly three decades of extensive experience in economics, public debt management, and fiscal policy. Prior to his current role, he was the Head of the Monetary Policy Division at the Central Bank of Kenya, where he made significant contributions to Kenya’s economic stability.
Mr. Otieno holds a Master’s Degree in Economic Policy from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, Japan, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi. His distinguished career includes key roles such as Acting Director of Research at the Central Bank of Kenya and Director of the Debt Management Programme at the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI), an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Harare, Zimbabwe, serving 14 member countries.
His expertise in public debt management, macroeconomic analysis, and research has been honed through various roles in Kenya’s public service, including positions within the Ministries of Finance and Planning. Additionally, he has served as a Policy Analyst at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) and as a Senior Researcher at the Central Bank of Kenya. Mr. Otieno began his professional journey at the National Treasury, where he rose to the position of Advisor to both the Economic Secretary and the Minister for Planning before transitioning to KIPPRA and later the Central Bank of Kenya.
Mr. Otieno has also made substantial contributions on the global stage, serving in advisory capacities or as a member of various task forces and committees under the World Bank, IMF, United Nations, and the East African Community (EAC). He is a published author, with contributions to significant works such as “Kenya: Policies for Prosperity” published by Oxford University Press in 2010, and as an editor for “Economic Management in a Hyperinflationary Environment: The Political Economy of Zimbabwe, 1980-2008,” also published by Oxford University Press.
Mr. John Hakan Wilson is the immediate former Group Chief Risk & Compliance Officer of Equity Group Holdings Limited, where he retired in March 2021. His vast experienced employment life spans over 40 years having worked with in the following organisations in various capacities:- Unicef, the Royal Swedish Army, McKinsey & Co., the World Bank Group (IBRD & IFC), Swedbank, Kaupthing Bank (Stockholm), and lastly at Equity Group Holdings, where he also was at some point the Group COO.
He has extensive knowledge on the transport, heavy manufacturing industry, large scale privatizations and post privatization advisory, project and structured finance, global trade, global banking and risk specialization and compliance etc. He has immense experience in corporate strategy, restructuring, risk and other operational issues affecting corporations.
Mr. Wilson holds a Master of Arts degree in Economics with dual concentration in Political Science from Uppsala University, Sweden and Masters in Public Affairs specializing in International Relations from Princeton University, New Jersey, United States.
Mr. Buckley brings to Kenya Airways Plc four decades of wide-ranging experience in the commercial aviation business. His career has included time working for an airline in Martinique, French West Indies, commercial and management positions with de Havilland Canada in Toronto, and senior management positions with Airbus in Toulouse, where retired in 2020, as the Executive Vice President, responsible for all of Airbus’s business, commercial strategy and customers relations in Europe, Asia and the Pacific. He has built top-level relationships across the industry and been intimately involved in the fleet and network planning process with many major airlines worldwide.
Mr. Buckley has served on the boards of several companies over the years, including connectivity specialist OnAir, majority owned by SITA; Nordic Aviation Capital, the largest lessor of regional aircraft worldwide; EFW, majority owned by ST Aerospace in Singapore; and Emerald Airlines, an Aer Lingus franchise carrier based in Dublin. He is a founding shareholder at Emerald Airlines. In 2018, Mr. Buckley was honoured to be awarded the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Mérite’ by the French government, for services to France.
Mr. Buckley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and French from Aston University in Birmingham, England.
The Board congratulates and welcomes Mr. Buckley to Kenya Airways and wishes him the best in his new role.
Mr. Philip Wambugu has over 36 years working experience most of which have been in the infrastructure and services related fields. He has previously worked with Kenya Airways Plc, Air East Africa Ltd (consultant), APEC Engineering (consultant), the Center for Transportation and Environmental Studies (Nairobi) as a Director, recently retired from the East African Community Secretariat after 19 years of distinguished service. He is a Director at KQ Lenders Ltd since 2017 and was Senior Consultant for Africa for Google Loon responsible for overflight rights across Africa between 2018 to March 2021.
He has extensive knowledge on the regional and continental dynamics of infrastructure planning and development and understands fully the issues affecting airlines, including the liberalization on air transport and aviation operations.
Mr. Wambugu holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree specializing in Economics from the Nairobi University and a Master of Science in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge USA.
Habil joined Kenya Airways Plc in March 2021. He has over 19 years Corporate and Commercial law experience having worked in similar senior levels at National Bank of Kenya Limited, Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited, and Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Limited (DTB), all publicly listed institutions.
Habil holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) Degree from The University of Nairobi, a Diploma in law from the Kenya School of Law. He is a graduate of the Global Executive Master of Business Administration (GEMBA) Degree programme from the United States International University in collaboration with the Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York. He has attended various professional management and corporate governance capacity building courses.
Habil is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Certified Public Secretary. He is a member of good standing with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the Institute of Certified Secretaries of Kenya (ICSK) and the Institute of Directors (IOD).
