Leadership
The Group is led by a Board comprising a Chairman, independent Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors.
Management
The leadership team of the bank is made up of a crop of seasoned and industry-recognized professionals, with diverse (but complementary) skills in various backgrounds, as well as depth of experience (garnered from national and international institutions). Over the years, these executives have brought their knowledge, experience and leadership to bear on the development and delivery of solutions (through products and services) to meet the needs of our customers and, in the process, contributing to sustaining the performance of the bank till date.
Alphan Njeru
Mr. Alphan Njeru retired from full-time employment with PricewaterhouseCoopers {PwC} Limited on 30 June 2015, having worked there since graduating from the University. For 36 years, he worked in several divisions within PwC, starting in the Audit and Assurance Division, then moving to Support services, and his last division being the Consulting/Advisory business. He has over the years held senior positions in the firm, among these being Partner heading the PwC Support Services, Company Secretary, and Business Leader for Advisory.
While still in employment, Alphan was active in the development and social activities of his community as Chairman of Mayori Secondary School, a public School in Embu for the last 10 years, and the Vice-Chair of the University Council of the Embu University College, a constituent college of the University of Nairobi.
Currently, Mr. Alphan sits on a number of Boards of several organizations in both the public and private sectors. Some of these companies include; Amatra (Pty) a company based in South Africa involved in the wine business, Alpha Gas Applications [East Africa] limited, a company involved in the specialized cutting gases business in Kenya, Sidai Kenya limited, a company which trades in agri-business and veterinary products with special focus on pastoralists communities in Kenya. He is also the Chairman of the Board of directors of Resolution Insurance Kenya Limited.
Kenneth Orji
Mr. Orji was educated at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria where he was a J. F. Kennedy Scholar, having emerged national first place winner of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Essay Contest, organized by the US Government. He graduated with BSc Hons. and was awarded the Sir James Robertson Prize and Medal for Outstanding Performance in Economics. He also obtained MSc Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics and attended Harvard Business School (Program for Management Development).
Mr. Orji has over 33 years’ experience, primarily in banking and finance, human capital development, consulting and advisory services. He began his banking career at International Merchant Bank Limited, Nigeria (the affiliate of First National Bank of Chicago). He then moved to Diamond Bank Limited where he was General Manager and Head of Divisions responsible for Corporate Banking, Commercial and Consumer Banking, Treasury, Investment Banking, Energy Unit, Project Finance, Public Sector, Private Banking, Strategic Planning, Financial Control, Risk Management, and Systems/Technology. He contributed to major innovations in the Nigerian banking industry and was involved in national policy development as a pioneer member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and the Technical Committee of Nigeria’s Vision 2010 project.
Mr. Orji is currently Chairman/CEO of Centennial Capital Limited and Director of several companies
Olive Mugenda – C.B.S., E.B.S.
Olive Mugenda holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc in Family Studies, Education, Consumer Sciences and Research Methods from Iowa State University (USA), MBA from the Eastern and Southern Africa Management Institute and Bachelor of Education (First Class Honours) from the University of Nairobi.
She was previously the Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University from 2006 to 2016. Before this, she was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Finance Planning & Development). She has also held various Board positions in a number of organizations including Chairperson, Association of Commonwealth Universities; Vice-President- International Association of Universities; Director, Nation Media Group; Member, Association of African Universities; Kenya National Examinations Council; Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) among others.
Professor Mugenda was awarded the Ernst & Young Life Time Achievement Award- 2014, The Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) Presidential Award- 2011 and The Elder of Burning Spear (EBS) Presidential Award- 2006. In February 2016, she was also honoured by the French Government through the French Embassy with the order of Academic Palms – a national order of France for Distinguished Academics and figures in the world for her efforts in steering the University’s growth.
Oliver Alawuba
Mr. Oliver Alawuba has over twenty years of working experience in the banking industry and the academia. Oliver was at various times an Executive Director at Finbank Nigeria Plc (now FCMB Plc), MD/CEO UBA Ghana Ltd, MD/CEO UBA West Africa and Deputy CEO UBA Africa Wholesale Banking. He is presently an ED/CEO, UBA Africa – Anglophone.
He is an alumnus of the AMP and SEP programmes of the prestigious Insead Business School, France, and London Business School respectively. He is also a Fellow of Nigerian Institute of Management and Honorary Senior Member of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
Ebele Ogbue
Ebele Ogbue is the General Manager, UBA Energy Bank at United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. His responsibilities are to acquire, deepen and expand the relationship the Bank has with multinational & regional corporates, international and institutional organisations in Africa. He is also responsible for supporting the growth of the wholesale banking business, which includes among other responsibilities, developing and driving the intra and inter-regional trade business of the bank across the various trade corridors in Africa.
He was the Chief Executive Officer at UBA Capital (Europe) Limited, UBA Liberia Ltd for two years and UBA in Sierra Leone. He was also a senior member of the team that set up UBA (formerly Standard Trust Bank) in Ghana in 2004, where he was the Chief Credit Officer for three years from 2004 to 2007.
Ebele has worked for other international banks, such as Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank in Nigeria and Ghana, and has a wealth of experience working in the financial services industry in West Africa. He practiced as an Auditor with Price Waterhouse before starting his banking career. He holds a first degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos, and an MBA from the CASS Business School.
Susan Nkirote Omanga
Mrs. Susan Omanga holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management with a Minor in Advertising from Rocky Mountain College in Billings Montana, USA. She is a member of the International Advertising Association (IAA), the Marketing Society of Kenya (MSK), and the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK).
Susan is the CEO and founder of Exclamation Marketing Limited. She has previously served as the Head of Marketing in East Africa at Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank. She also held previous senior marketing positions at Colgate Palmolive E.A Limited, and Boots (K). Her board experience includes serving as a non-executive Director in the Group Board of KCB where she was also Chairperson of KCB Foundation for 4 years, Director S & L Mortgages for 2 years and Director KCB Uganda for 4 years. Ms. Omanga holds various Board positions in a number of organizations such as UAP- Old Mutual Group, Longhorn Publishers, Kenya Tea Packers Limited (KETEPA), Pink Progress and Acumen Fund.
Moses Obonyo
Moses Obonyo holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from Strathmore University, an Executive MBA from United States International University/Columbia University, a Post Graduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law, and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Nairobi. He is a member of the Institute of Certified Secretaries.
He is currently the Managing Partner of Buyuka Obonyo Advocates. He serves as Chairman of Old Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited, an Independent Director in the UAP Old Mutual Group in East Africa, Ghana Reinsurance (Kenya) Limited, and UAP Insurance Tanzania Limited. He is the immediate Chairman of the Tax Appeals Tribunal, Coast Provincial General Hospital, and served as Director of the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Kenya (IRA) among others.
Moses is passionate about governance. His value offer is sharing knowledge on governance, risk strategies, international finance law, and regulation.
George Otieno
George Otieno holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Lagos and is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London.
He currently serves on several boards as a Non-Executive Director among them Capex Life Assurance Kenya, WAICA Re Kenya, and CITI TRUST Holdings in Nigeria. He served as CEO of the African Trade Insurance Agency from 2010 to 2019. Between 1988 and 2010 he held various positions with Africa Re such as Regional Director West Africa, Director of Operations both in Lagos, Regional Director East & Southern Africa in Nairobi, and Reinsurance Manager at Pan Africa Insurance from 1981 to 1984. He is currently the Chairman of Afrisure Risk Limited a risk management consultancy firm.
George is passionate about the insurance sector particularly on trade, investment, and political risks.
Chike Isiuwe
Chike Isiuwe brings to UBA Kenya Bank over two decades of experience in the Banking Industry working across Customer Experience, Corporate Banking, Consumer Banking, Marketing, Relationship Management and Credit Underwriting. Prior to his current appointment, he has previously served as Deputy General Manager – Corporate Banking Directorate at UBA Group in Nigeria. Before joining United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr Isiuwe worked at Zenith Bank Plc for 17 years starting as a Bank Teller and progressing to Relationship Management in Corporate and Commercial Banking and in various capacities in Branch Operations. He worked with different cross- functional teams within Zenith Bank to achieve notable growth in the branch network, balance sheet and the Banks overall performance. Mr. Isiuwe later exited Zenith Bank as The Regional Head and Assistant General Manager to join UBA Group in 2013.
Chike Isiuwe holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economics from The University of Nigeria and a Diploma in Computer Science. He also holds various professional certifications including Project Finance, Loan and Transaction Structuring, Transformational Leadership and many more covering various facets in Leadership, Marketing, Credit Evaluation & Underwriting Risk.
Mr Isiuwe represents UBA Group as an Executive Committee member of the Financial Services Group of The Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry and also as an active committee member in the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. He is an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
Evah Wahogo
Evah has more than 14 years of work experience spanning Banking Operations and Finance. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and an MBA from Kenyatta University and the University of Nairobi respectively.
She has successfully completed her Certified Public Accountants (CPA) – Sections 1, 2, & 3 and is currently pursuing section 4
John Oganda
John is an experienced Risk, Compliance, Regulatory, and AML/CFT Risk professional with over 10 years in the banking profession. Other areas of specialty include Banking Operations, Finance, and Enterprise-Wide Risk Management.
He holds a B.A degree from Egerton University and is currently pursuing an MBA from the University of South Wales. He is Certified in Risk & Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Information System Auditor (CISA), and Certified Operational Risk PR actioner by Chase Cooper faculty of Risk.
Prior to his current role, he had worked with Commercial Bank of Africa (now NCBA) in various capacities including Compliance Manager, Risk & Compliance Officer, and Reconciliation and Revenue Assurance.
Debra Ogada
With a career in Banking that spans 13 years, Debra has served as a Legal and Company Secretarial expert in a number of top tier banks in Kenya. Before venturing into the Corporate world, Debra worked in private legal firms and the N.G.O world, where she championed the rights of Women and Children, a cause she is still passionate about.
Having overseen Compliance, Governance & Controls, Product Approval Process as well as Risk Audits, Debra has honed a unique skill set with a deep understanding of Banking operations.
Debra is a member of the Law Society of Kenya and the Institute of Certified Secretaries(Kenya). She is also a member of Rotary International, where she has served as a Club President and currently serves as Assistant Governor. She has also attained the prestigious award of Paul Harris Fellow.
Geoffrey Kimani
Geoffrey Kimani is a seasoned banker with 15 years’ post-qualification experience working in Risk management, compliance, and internal audit in various banks in the Kenyan banking sector. He joined UBA in 2017 as the Head of Risk Management in charge of implementing the bank’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework. Immediately prior to joining UBA, he worked at Jamii Bora Bank as Head of Enterprise Risk Management.
He has an MBA and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Nairobi. He is also a CPA (K), CISA, and a holder of Operational Risk Certification from Chase Cooper Faculty of Risk.
We have a diverse but complementary team
Over the years, these executives have brought their knowledge, experience and leadership to bear on the development and delivery of solutions (through products and services) to meet the needs of our customers.
Our People
At UBA, we realise that our people remain our most valuable assets. Our people are our competitive edge in a highly dynamic and competitive banking environment. We have invested in the best performance management systems to ensure our people always have the cutting-edge skills to excel in what they do.
We also have in place financial and non-financial incentive schemes, including a staff recognition scheme to reward our high-performance staff members for excelling in their duties.
Our staff is multicultural, multilingual, and highly diverse in outlook, reflecting the richness and diversity of the 23 countries we operate in. Our people strategy is hinged on always seeking to employ the best people, and creating a conducive environment for them to excel in their work and to delight customers, while providing competitive remuneration and reward systems to retain our best hands.
UBA employees are fondly referred to as the ‘UBA Lions and Lionesses’, reflecting the confidence with which they deliver financial solutions to the bank’s customers.
