Safaricom Plc #ticker:SCOM paid Michael Joseph an additional bonus of Sh127.5 million in the year ended March, making him Kenya’s best paid board member of a firm listed on the Nairobi bourse.
The bonus came in a period when he had already relinquished the chief executive post to Peter Ndegwa, whose appointment took effect on April 1, 2020.
It is not clear whether the additional payout to Mr Joseph, which was categorised under executive compensation, is linked to his nine-month stint as interim CEO after Safaricom’s long-time executive Bob Collymore died of cancer in July 2019.
The company did not disclose in the annual report if there was any deferred compensation owed to Mr Joseph.
But it says its executives are entitled to emoluments they have negotiated with the company, adding that non-executive directors, including its chair, do not receive bonuses.
“The executive director’s (the CEO) remuneration is as per the negotiated employment contract and is employed on a fixed-term basis,” the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm said.
“Besides the basic salary, the executive director is entitled to an annual performance-based bonus and Vodafone Plc shares, residential accommodation, utility bills payment, children’s school fees and club membership.”
The company added that its non-executive directors are compensated in the form of fees “but are not entitled to any pension, bonus or long-term incentives such as performance share plans.”
Besides the Sh127.5 million bonus Mr Joseph earned in the review period, he also received Sh6.3 million worth of fees as chairman and non-executive director, taking his total compensation to Sh133.8 million.
After stepping down as CEO, he remained as a non-executive director and was later elevated to chairman on August 1, 2020 to replace Nicholas Ng’ang’a, who retired.
In the previous financial year (to March 2020), Mr Joseph’s earnings also comprised elements of his CEO role and fees as a non-executive director and totaled Sh126.3 million.This included a salary of Sh88.4 million, a bonus (Sh23.4 million) and a director’s fee (Sh360,000).Safaricom does not disclose details of the contracts of its executives but says that non-executive directors’ fees are fixed and were not changed in the year ended March.The chairman, for instance, is paid Sh5.7 million per annum and sitting allowance of Sh85,000 per meeting.Other non-executive directors are paid fees of Sh2.2 million each per annum and are entitled to a sitting allowance of Sh60,000 per meeting. A person chairing a board committee is paid Sh74,150 per meeting.Mr Joseph, a Safaricom veteran, provided […]
