Safaricom has picked former Infrastructure Principal Secretary (PS) Dr John Kipngetich Mosonik and current Vodacom Group Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer Murielle Lorilloux as new non-executive directors to steer the board effective August 23, 2023. The appointments, coming hot on the heels of the telcos founding CEO Michael Josephs resignation as a board member earlier in the month. Dr Mosonik holds a Doctoral Degree in Business Administration from Northcentral University in the US and a PhD in Business Administration (Strategic Management) from Moi University in Kenya.

He also holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nairobi and is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (FIEK) as well as a registered member of the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK). Dr Mosonik is an astute technocrat with executive experience in both public and private sector administration spanning 35 years. He has a rich career profile stretching across industries in the engineering practice and telecom sector, reads the appointment notice.

He has also previously served as the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining between 2018 and 2022. Ms Lorilloux on the other hand, is currently a member of the executive committee at Safaricoms intermediate parent firm Vodacom Group Limited, having previously worked for the telcos ultimate parent firm Vodafone Group Plc in the United Kingdom as an Executive Business Director for Europe cluster markets. She holds a Masters Degree in Economics (Management and Marketing) from the Paris Nanterre University and a Masters Degree in Business Management and Strategy from the ESCP Business School in France.

She has previously held the positions of CEO and President of the board of Vodafone Romania (2017-2021) and Managing Director of Vodacom DRC (2014-2017). Prior to this, Lorilloux held various senior management roles with Orascom Telecom Algeria, Wana Corporate and Capgemini.