November 16, 2024

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Britam MD Tavaziva sacked after 10 months amid internal wars

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Financial services company Britam Group has sacked its managing director, Tavaziva Madzinga barely a year in office amid internal wars.

This is after the insurance group announced Madzinga’s planned exit in April 2022 without divulging details that led to his departure.

Insiders intimated to writer that leadership wrangles within the Board of Directors and senior management team resulted to Madzinga’s sacking and have one of their own installed at the helm.

“Madzinga was only offering a safe transition following the exit of the long serving former Britam Group Managing Director Benson Wairegi who officially handed over the company’s leadership to Tavaziva Madzinga. Madzinga’s appointment was effective February 1, 2021. Wairegi’s service at Britam spanned over 40 years. After Wairegi’s exit, Britam has been on a downward spiral due to leadership wars and internal fallout both at the board level and the within the senior management team.” Our source intimated.

Britam MD Tavaziva sacked after 10 months amid internal wars
Britam MD Tavaziva sacked after 10 months amid internal wars

The group has also announced the appointment of Charles Njuguna as the deputy managing director, signaling internal succession planning at the company.

Njuguna is the current finance director and will retain his role under the new structure.

However, according to Britam, the Zimbabwean’s turnaround plan has saved the company Sh500 million in annual expenses through the voluntary early retirement (VER) programme.

“We are grateful to have benefited from Madzinga’s global experience in repositioning the Group for the future. He has reset the Group’s focus towards serving our customers with empathy and care while providing a truly epic customer experience,” said acting Britam chairman Mohamed Said Karama.

Madzinga said he was pleased with his achievement at Britam, having restructured the business into a customer-focused company, built a strong mix in the management team and improved the performance of the international business which has seen the insurer return to profitability.Diane Korir has also been appointed as the customer experience director and Catherine Karita as the strategy and investor relations director.

The changes in the executive suite came after the firm in March eliminated nine top executive positions or nearly half of its management team.

Madzinga replaced Benson Wairegi as managing director following a decision that reflected the wishes of its dominant foreign shareholders.

Britam was expected to tap an insider from the finance division to replace Wairegi, who retired in January after serving the firms for 40 years.