President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday awarded one of Kenya’s youngest millionaire a lucrative Government job.
In a ceremony held at State House, Mr Kenyatta appointed Centum Chief Executive Officer (CEO) James Mworia as the Chancellor of Machakos University.
Mr Mworia who tops the list as Kenya’s best paid CEO with an annual compensation of Sh201.1 million which translates to Sh16.7 million per month inclusive of bonuses, accepted President Kenyatta’s appointment noting he was ready to scale the public university to greater heights.
“Thank you Uhuru Kenyatta for affording me the opportunity to serve as Chancellor of Machakos University. I am truly honoured,” he said.
Mworia has hit headlines around the globe with his interesting story of rising to the top from an intern at Centum to the chief boss in the same company.
At the age of 30-years he was one of the youngest senior executives in a Kenyan listed firm.
During the Friday event, Mr Kenyatta also gave Machakos University a Charter together with seven other institutions; Murang’a University of Technology (Murang’a), University of Embu (Embu), Kirinyaga University (Kirinyaga), KAG East University in Kajiado County, Rongo University (Migori), the Cooperative University of Kenya (Nairobi) and Taita Taveta University in Taita-Taveta County.
The head of state further ordered a freeze in establishment of more universities in the country.
Mr Kenyatta stated that the government needed to give more emphasis on improving the quality of existing universities as opposed to their quantity.
“Our focus now must be strengthening the institutions that we have; building their resilience and ensuring sustained quality,” Kenyatta noted.
Here are the photos from the ceremony:
Here is James Mworia:
