Jambojet appoints finance chief Karanja Ndegwa as interim MD

Jambojet has appointed its chief financial officer Karanja Ndegwa as the airline’s interim managing director, replacing Allan Kilavuka who left for parent firm Kenya Airways #ticker:KQ earlier this month.

In a statement on Monday, Jambojet chairman Vincent Rague said the appointment takes effect on May 1, 2020, until the board fills up the position on a permanent basis.

Mr Ndegwa takes over from Mr Kilavuka, after KQ picked the head of its low-cost subsidiary as its new chief executive effective April 1.

Mr Kilavuka will, however, continue serving on the board of Jambojet as a non-executive director.

“We are grateful Mr Ndegwa has accepted to continue serving as the Chief Financial Officer even as he takes on the new role of acting Managing Director. We wish to thank Mr Kilavuka for his dedication and service to Jambojet,” said Mr Rague.

Mr Ndegwa has been instrumental to the budget carrier’s growth, setting up the finance structure during Jambojet’s inception five years ago and has been involved in strategy development and implementation, Mr Rague said.

A graduate of Economics and Statistics from the University of Nairobi and a Certified Public Accountant, Mr Ndegwa has over 20 years of experience in the aviation industry, 12 of which have been in senior positions.

Prior to joining Jambojet in 2014 as head of finance, he worked at KQ in different roles, rising to manager – revenue accounting. He was appointed as Jambojet chief financial officer in 2016.