Barely days after announcing a historic KSh 70 per share dividend for 2025, the board of British American Tobacco Kenya PLC has confirmed sweeping changes at the helm.
Managing Director Crispin Achola will leave the company on 15 June 2026, while Finance Director Philemon Kipkemoi is set to exit earlier, on 31 March 2026. In their place, the board has named Sidney Wafula as the new Managing Director and Catherine Chepkong’a as Finance Director.
Wafula currently serves as Finance Director for BAT’s Sub Saharan Africa Area. Having joined BAT Kenya in 2006, he has occupied senior finance and operations roles across several African markets, giving him a broad regional footprint ahead of his return to Nairobi.
Achola assumed leadership in January 2021, steering the listed cigarette maker through mounting headwinds including a surge in illicit trade, tighter regulatory scrutiny and evolving consumer behaviour. Despite these pressures, the firm upheld a steady dividend track record and posted an 18 per cent rise in profit before tax in 2025, reaching KSh 7.7 billion. Total dividends for the year amounted to KSh 7.0 billion, equivalent to KSh 70 per share.
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Kipkemoi, Finance Director since 2020, managed treasury operations through volatile currency cycles while reinforcing cost controls. In 2025, finance income rebounded to KSh 196 million from a loss in the preceding year, and closing cash balances climbed to KSh 6.2 billion.
Chepkong’a joined the wider BAT Group in 2012 and has held senior finance posts across East and Southern Africa. She will assume the Finance Director role on 1 April 2026, bringing experience in governance, financial oversight and performance management.
The leadership reshuffle arrives at a delicate juncture. The company continues to grapple with high levels of illicit trade in the domestic market and depends on exports for roughly half of its revenue, a reminder that even record dividends do not insulate a business from structural strain.
