Real People taps former Mwalimu Sacco boss

Struggling microlender Real People has hired Robert Shibutse, who previously headed Mwalimu National Sacco, as its new chief executive to replace Charles Kocks.

Mr Shibuste, who steered the teacher’s organisation to buy the loss-making Equatorial Commercial Bank (renamed Spire Bank), will be expected to help Real People that is looking for a deep-pocketed buyer.

Mwalimu has lost the Sh2.4 billion it spent in a acquiring a 75 percent stake in Spire Bank in 2015, with the lender’s capital wiped out by multi-year losses. “The following change, namely the resignation of the incumbent CEO and the appointment of the new CEO is made within the top management of the issuer as from December 18, 2019,” Real People said in a notice.

Real People has been on a search for a strategic buyer since the lender’s default on a Sh1.2 billion bond.

The microlender had said it would have an investor by August this year, buying the confidence of its creditors when it could not meet payments in 2018.

When part of the money was due last year, the firm negotiated to extend payments to quarterly disbursements in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028 if it could have secured an investor to inject Sh600 million by August 3, 2019.

By the end of June the company’s board said that investors that are looking at the firm had not come back with a proposed deal yet. This saw Real People take a pre-emptive action and approached the bondholders to move the trigger date for getting an investor to January 2020.