๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ: ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ
2001
โ Mworia joins Centum as a 23-year-old intern in an entry-level filing role. He holds a law degree, is a CPA, and is midway through his CFA exams.
2005
โ Within four years of joining, Mworia rises to the position of Head of Investments.
2006 (Late)
โ Frustrated by the pace of the "conservative institution," Mworia quits Centum to join TransCentury as Head of Investments.
2008 (Early)
โ Centum's board approaches Mworia about returning. He agrees only on the condition that he is made CEO, presenting a strategic plan to multiply the company's value.
2008 (December)
โ At age 30, Mworia is appointed CEO & Managing Director, becoming the youngest CEO of a listed company in Kenya. Inherited asset base: approx. KES 6 Bn.
2008
โ BUY: Acquires 31.25% minority stake in Longhorn Publishers.
2011
โ BUY: Acquires 106 acres along Limuru Road, Nairobi, anchoring the future Two Rivers development.
โ BUY: Acquires 300 acres in Entebbe, Uganda, for the Pearl Marina development.
2012
โ BUY: Acquires 15% stake in NAS Servair (airport catering).
โ BUY: Acquires stakes in private equity funds Helios Fund II and CAPE III.
โ SELL: Exits 10% stake in Rift Valley Railways to Qalaa Holdings.
2013
โ BUY: Acquires 37.5% stake in Akiira Geothermal.
โ BUY: Acquires 35.6% stake in Platcorp Holdings (microfinance).
โ CAPITAL RAISE: KES 4.2 Bn private placement bond (largest in Kenyan history at the time).
2014
โ BUY: Acquires majority stake in K-Rep Bank (later Sidian Bank), raising holding from 7.54% to 67.54%.
โ SELL: Fully exits Helios Fund II and CAPE III.
2014โ2016
โ BUY: Consolidates three Coca-Cola franchise bottlers into Almasi Beverages, acquiring a 53.9% controlling stake.
โ BUY: Also acquires 27.6% of Nairobi Bottlers. Combined cost approx. KES 3.4โ3.5 Bn.
2015
โ BUY: Acquires 10,254 acres in Kilifi County (Vipingo Development) for approx. KES 2 Bn.
โ BUY: Establishes Greenblade Growers (herbs export).
โ BUY: Acquires 40% of ACE Holdings (education).
โ BUY: Acquires 100% of King Beverage (Carlsberg/Tuborg distributor).
โ SELL: Sells 13.75% stake in UAP Holdings to Old Mutual for approx. KES 5.2 Bn (original cost ~KES 245 Mn; IRR 39.9%).
โ CAPITAL RAISE: KES 6.0 Bn listed bond.
2016
โ BUY: Forms Amu Power (51% stake) to develop a 981.5MW coal plant in Lamu. Investment approx. KES 2.1 Bn.
โ BUY: Participates in Longhorn Publishers rights issue, raising stake to 60.2%.
โ SELL: Exits 22% stake in AON Insurance Brokers (Minet) for approx. KES 1 Bn (entry cost ~KES 200 Mn).
FY2017
โ SELL: Sells portion of Platcorp Holdings stake (partial). Proceeds KES 813.4 Mn.
โ SELL: Sells 26.4% stake in Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL) , generating a gain of approx. KES 1.1 Bn (original cost 1977: KES 12.2 Mn).
FY2018
โ SELL: Fully exits remaining Platcorp Holdings stake.
โ SELL: Sells 73.35% controlling stake in GenAfrica Asset Managers to Kuramo Capital for approx. KES 2.3โ2.4 Bn (IRR 24.4%).
2019
โ SELL: Exits Almasi Beverages (53.9%) and Nairobi Bottlers (27.6%) to Coca-Cola Beverages Africa for a combined KES 19.5 Bn (entry cost ~KES 3.4 Bn; IRRs 27.15% and 38.97%). This remains Centum's largest exit.
โ SELL: Sells King Beverage at a loss, crystallising an audited loss of KES 468.8 Mn (sale proceeds KES 147.5 Mn vs. carrying value KES 616.3 Mn).
FY2020
โ WRITE-OFF: Fully impairs the Amu Power investment, taking a charge of KES 2,097,549,000 after the coal project loses its licence, financing, and technical partner.
2021 (Q3)
โ BUY: Repositions Centum Business Solutions as Jafari Credit, a microfinance lender focusing on check-off loans to civil servants.
2023 (January)
โ The agreement to sell Sidian Bank (83.43% stake) to Nigeria's Access Bank for KES 4.3 Bn officially lapses and collapses after parties fail to meet conditions.
2023 (October)
โ SELL: Pivots to a local sale, selling 38.91% of Sidian Bank directly to three buyers for KES 3.2 Bn. Centum's stake falls to 44.52%, and Sidian is deconsolidated.
2024 (July)
โ BUY: Acquires additional stakes in Akiira Geothermal, raising holding from 37.5% to 85% for a total consideration of KES 232.8 Mn. Cumulative investment now approx. KES 2.2 Bn; equity value remains nil.
2024 (September)
โ SELL: Sells 50% of Bakki Holdco (which holds the residual Sidian economic interest) to Kenbe Investments for KES 1.032 Bn.
2026 (12 March)
โ SELL: Completes the full exit from Sidian Bank by selling its remaining 50% stake in Bakki Holdco. The buyer is undisclosed. Total cash recovered across both exit phases (2023โ2026) is estimated at KES 4.2โ5.0 Bn, against an estimated total entry cost of approx. KES 4.7 Bn, representing a recovery of capital rather than a significant gain.
๐ฃ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ:
โ Total Carrying Value: KES 50.577 Bn (vs. ~KES 6 Bn inherited in 2008)
Top Holdings by Value:
โ Centum Real Estate (Land & Dev Cos): KES 35.774 Bn (~70.8% of portfolio)
โ Isuzu East Africa (17.8%): KES 5.621 Bn
โ Two Rivers Land Co. SEZ Ltd (80.5%): KES 10.503 Bn
โ NAS Servair (15%): KES 1.065 Bn
โ Jafari Credit (100%): KES 1.433 Bn
โ Nabo Capital (100%): KES 470 Mn
โ Longhorn Publishers (60.2%): KES 495 Mn (market price)
โ Greenblade Growers (100%): KES 302 Mn
The professor loved good food, fine suits, and quiet company this three luxuries that politics rarely allowed. But on February 13, 1990, his lunch carried both spices and death. And it happened in his favorite Indian meal at an exclusive restaurant in Muthaiga
They say betrayal doesnโt always come with a gun; sometimes, it comes garnished with coriander and served warm on a porcelain plate. Professor George Saitoti, Kenyaโs most loyal Vice-President, ate it unsuspectingly and history took a dark turn.
What he didnโt know was that the night before, Dr. Robert Ouko, his Cabinet colleague and friend, had been murdered, burnt, and dumped in Koruโs Got Alila. And now no one noticed when the countryโs second most powerful man started collapsing from his own slow death.
President Moi later murmured, almost like a man confessing to God after mass, that โthose who killed Ouko also poisoned Saitoti.โ
In politics, Saitoti was the quiet sheep in a pen full of wolves. He trusted only three men Michael ole Tanju, Joshua Tonkei, and a mysterious figure known in Kajiado as โSultanโ, who guarded him like a bodyguard and prophet combined. Even his chapati needed their clearance before it reached his plate.
His only outside confidant? A certain young businessman called Jimi Wanjigi whose political shadow was just beginning to stretch across Kenyaโs skyline. After the poisoning, Saitoti swore never to eat outside again unless it was at Kwacha House, under Wanjigiโs discreet watch.
For months, the Vice-President was treated secretly in his Lavington home, his skin peeling, his breath weak. The family feared the killers might finish what the soup had started. No newspaper wrote it, in those days, some deaths were not allowed to trend.
Saitoti had already stepped deep into the Goldenberg swamp, a shiny scandal that blinded even the clever. Kamlesh Pattni played the mask, but Saitoti was the mathematician who approved the equation.
He had solved for x and found that x = survival.
To stay alive politically, he sang Moiโs praises like hymns in a burning church. He was loyal not out of love, but out of fear
But Moi was a man who loved drama. In March 2002, during the grand Kanu-NDP merger, Saitoti walked into Kasarani expecting a crown only to discover that his name had been erased from the list like a sinnerโs in Revelation.
When he protested, Moi thundered: โKinyu, Professor! If your name is not there, it is not there!โ
The crowd went silent. Power had spoken, and it spoke with cruelty.
Humiliated but burning with dignity, he took the microphone and delivered his immortal line:
โThere comes a time when the nation is more important than an individual.โ
Those who heard him that day say he looked like a man who had just seen the future and it wasnโt his.
From that day, he knew Moiโs prophecy: โFriendship and leadership are different things.โ It was the softest way to tell a man that his dreams were dead.
Saitoti eventually broke ranks, joined Kibaki, and helped bring the Nyayo era to its knees. But fate wasn๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝt done with him. The man who had survived poison would later perish in a helicopter crash.
HIstory documents that 'the system' lives on, sipping tea, unbothered. When we get time we shall tell his death story maybe tomorrow...
For more #HistoryKE follow @timothyturunga