Safaricom’s retail outlet shops across the country will be closed this coming Thursday 4th July 2019 to owner the company’s fallen Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore. Customers will not be able to access the shops for four hours starting from 10:30am to 2:30pm; at the same time, his memorial service will be carried out at the All Saints Cathedral Nairobi.
Bob succumbed to cancer on Monday 1st July having served the telco giant since Michael Joseph who is now the temporary CEO till the company’s board finds a suitable permanent replacement. Amongst top contenders is Kenya’s Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer at Safaricom since November 2018, who made news recently when Tanzania refused to award her a work permit to take up CEO position at the counties Vodacom.
In a statement from Safaricom, closing the retail outlets will symbolize a mark of respect for the Cherished leader as it gives Kenyans an opportunity to reflect on his life. Bob Collymore’s body was cremated early Tuesday at Kariokor in Nairobi, in a private ceremony attended by his close family members, invited friends and a few staff members from Safaricom.
There was heavy security at the crematorium after a huge crowd of onlookers turned up, despite an announcement by the company’s board Chairman Nicholas Nganga that it was a private event.
Bo succumbed to Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a cancer at his Nairobi home on Monday, aged 61, after a long battle and had been seeking treatment since 2017, here in Kenya and in the United Kingdom.