Kenya Airways has appointed four new board members as it navigates a leadership transition following the departure of long-serving Group Managing Director and CEO Allan Kilavuka in December 2025.
The appointments bring deep capital markets experience, macroeconomic expertise, aviation industry knowledge, and corporate governance credentials to a board tasked with guiding the airline through an ambitious five-year growth strategy.
The Appointments
Kenya Airways names Kiprono Kittony as Chairman and Independent Non-Executive Director. It appoints Dr David Ndii as Non-Executive Director, Chris Diaz as Independent Non-Executive Director, and Prof. Winnie Iminza Nyamute as Independent Non-Executive Director.
The appointments take effect as the airline operates under the interim leadership of Captain George Kamal, who the board elevated to Acting GMD/CEO on 16 December 2025 following Kilavuka’s exit after six years at the helm. The board has initiated a competitive recruitment process to appoint a substantive CEO.
New Board at a Glance
| Director | Role | Key Background |
|---|---|---|
| Kiprono Kittony | Chairman & Independent Non-Executive Director | NSE Chairman; co-founder Radio Africa Group; former KNCCI Chairman; EBS awardee |
| David Ndii | Non-Executive Director | Oxford PhD economist; Chair, Presidential Council of Economic Advisors; Rhodes Scholar & Eisenhower Fellow |
| Chris Diaz | Independent Non-Executive Director | Former KQ Marketing Director; Exec. Chairman Adili Group; Fellow CIM; first African CIM Trustee |
| Prof. Winnie Nyamute | Independent Non-Executive Director | Full Professor, UoN Finance & Accounting; IFAC Board member; former NSE & Sameer Africa director; FCPA |
Director Profiles
Kiprono Kittony : Chairman & Independent Non-Executive Director
Kittony brings to the role one of the most recognisable profiles in Kenyan capital markets and commerce. He currently serves as Chairman of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), a position he has held since 2020 after joining the NSE board as a non-executive member in 2018. In that capacity he has steered the exchange through significant strategic growth, strengthening Kenya’s capital markets infrastructure.
Kittony co-founded the Radio Africa Group in 2000, now one of Kenya’s fastest-growing media companies, operating Kiss FM, Classic 105, and The Star newspaper. He previously served as National Chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), where he is credited with rescuing the institution from near collapse and restoring its global influence. He also chairs AAR Insurance Limited and Mtech Limited, and sits on the advisory council of the International Fund for Health in Africa.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi, and a Global Executive MBA from USIU in partnership with Columbia University Business School. The government recognised his public service contributions with the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) in 2019. His appointment as chairman signals the board’s intent to anchor Kenya Airways’ governance to Kenya’s private sector establishment at a moment of strategic reinvention.
Dr David Ndii: Non-Executive Director
Ndii is one of Africa’s best-known economists and one of the most consequential public finance voices in Kenya. He currently chairs the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors under President William Ruto, a role he has held since the Kenya Kwanza administration took office in 2022. He holds a doctorate and master’s degrees in economics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nairobi. He is also an Eisenhower Fellow.
Ndii co-founded Kenya’s first independent economic policy think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, and established Africa Economics, a consultancy focused on macroeconomic analysis and strategy. He previously served as Chief Economist at Equity Bank Group and as an economist for the World Bank. He advised the Government of Rwanda on economic policy and led the NARC Economic Recovery Strategy taskforce, widely credited with Kenya’s post-2003 economic recovery. He also chairs the board of Zimele Asset Management Company.
His appointment brings rare macroeconomic firepower to the KQ board at a time when the airline is pursuing a US$500 million capital raise and a fleet expansion from 34 to 59 aircraft by 2032. Ndii’s expertise in debt sustainability, public finance, and structural reform positions him as a critical voice as Kenya Airways navigates its financing strategy.
Chris Diaz : Independent Non-Executive Director
Diaz returns to Kenya Airways as a board member after previously serving as the airline’s Marketing Director, during which time he worked with the SkyTeam Board alliance in Amsterdam and successfully positioned KQ as the ‘Pride of Africa’ brand. He brings more than 25 years of corporate sales, marketing, and brand experience spanning aviation, FMCG, and media.
He currently serves as Executive Chairman of Adili Group and as Director of Growth and New Markets at ALN Africa and Middle East, as well as Group Director at Bidco Africa, a position he has held for 16 years. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Science in International Marketing from the United Kingdom. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and became the first African to serve as a CIM Trustee. He has also served on the board of Kenya Airports Authority and on government boards including Brand Kenya.
The marketing community recognised Diaz as Global Marketing Leader of the Year at the Markies Awards in 2017 in the United States, the first African to win the accolade. His deep familiarity with Kenya Airways’ commercial operations, combined with his current portfolio of regional and continental roles, makes him a strategic asset as KQ targets a 30 percent cargo market share at JKIA and expands its footprint across Africa.
Prof. Winnie Iminza Nyamute : Independent Non-Executive Director
Prof. Nyamute is a full Professor and Consultant in the Department of Finance and Accounting at the University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, with over 30 years of professional experience spanning academia, audit, corporate governance, and financial regulation. She holds a PhD in Business Administration (Finance), an MBA in Finance, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Nairobi.
She is a Fellow and Certified Public Accountant of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) and a member of the Association of Women Accountants of Kenya, the Kenya Institute of Management, and the Institute of Directors Kenya. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) appointed her to its board in November 2019, following a nomination by ICPAK — a recognition of her standing in global accountancy governance.
Nyamute has previously served on the boards of the Nairobi Securities Exchange — where she chaired the Audit and Risk Committee — Sameer Africa PLC, the Board of Trustees of NSE Clear, KCA University, and Family Bank. She currently serves as an independent director at Acorn Investment Management. Her research outputs cover corporate governance, capital structure, stock returns, and financial performance of listed firms, with over 31 publications. Her appointment adds rigorous financial oversight credentials and capital markets governance experience to the Kenya Airways board.
Strategic Context
The board refresh arrives at a defining moment for Kenya Airways. The airline reported a pre-tax profit of US$42.82 million in March 2025 but recorded a loss of KES 12.2 billion (approximately US$94.6 million) in the first half of 2025, largely attributable to the grounding of three of its nine Boeing 787 Dreamliners due to GEnx-1B engine issues.
Despite the setback, Acting CEO Captain Kamal has maintained the airline’s strategic ambitions. Kenya Airways is targeting a fleet of 59 aircraft by 2032 — up from 34 today — and is pursuing a capital raise of around US$500 million to fund growth. The airline has requested government authorisation to establish a secondary hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, basing Embraer E190 aircraft there to expand its West African reach. It has also signed a codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways in 2025, connecting Doha with Nairobi and Mombasa despite the carriers belonging to rival alliances SkyTeam and oneworld.
On cargo, the airline is targeting a jump from its current 11 percent market share at JKIA to 30 percent, a goal underpinned by four dedicated cargo aircraft and plans for long-range freighter capacity coming in 2026. The new board now steers those ambitions alongside the search for a substantive CEO.
The board will oversee the competitive recruitment process for a permanent GMD/CEO while simultaneously providing governance oversight for the airline’s capital raise, fleet expansion, and route development strategy. For Kiprono Kittony, the chairmanship represents his most prominent corporate governance role to date and places him at the helm of one of Africa’s most strategically significant aviation assets.
