Lawyer Adil Khawaja has been named the new chairman of telecommunication company, Safaricom.
The announcement follows John Ngumi’s exit from Safaricom where he served in the role for less than six months.
At the same time, Khawaja’s election as the chairman comes barely two months after after he joined Safaricom as a director.
“He is recognised as a leading name in the Kenyan legal profession and has been globally recognized in various practice groups as one of the most sought-after lawyers in Kenya,” Safaricom said in a statement.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Adil Khawaja
Khawaja is the current managing partner at Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, Kenya’s oldest law firm, which was established in 1902.
The lawyer enrolled for his LLB Hons in 1990 before enrolling as a trainee at Hamiltons Harrison and Mathews.
In 1994, he went to do his Diploma in Law at the Kenya School of Law (KSL), and later in 1995, he was promoted to an associate at the Hamiltons Harrison and Mathews law firm.
Khawaja held the position for five years until 2001 when he was unveiled as a partner, a position he held for 12 years.
He also served as the Law Society of Kenya Elections Scrutineer between 2007 and 2010, and later endorsed by LSK to the Judiciary Committee responsible for the renovation of Milimani Courts.
Khawaja also holds a Masters’s Degree from the University of Nairobi (UoN) and a graduate degree from the University of Sheffield.
He is currently the Managing Director at Dentons Hamilton Harrison & Mathews.
His role in the law firm is to advise investors, high net worth individuals, companies and the government, having been recognized globally by UK’s Legalease Ltd in its annual publication, ‘The Legal 500.’
Khawaja also serves as an executive member of the Nairobi Arboretum Conservancy Community Forest Association, and was previously a director on the National Environment Council.
He previously served as member of the National Environment Council under the National Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act from 2005 to 2009.
Khawaja has also served in the board of Trustees Friends of Conservation, a non-profit wildlife conservation organization between 2006 and 2011.
He previously served as a director of KCB Bank Group before being elected the first Chairman of KCB Bank Kenya Limited and served until his tenure ended in 2020.
The lawyer has also previously served as the Human Capital and Finance Committee from 2011 to 2014.
Khawaja also served as a director in the board of Kenya Power & Lighting Company and as a Trustee of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
He is also an holder of the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS).
Adil Rhino Charge
In 2018, Khawaja was invited to be a new director of Rhino Ark, a charitable trust founded in 1988 to support conservation in Kenya.
With his team, the lawyer was able to clinch the Third Highest Cash Sponsorship having raised over Ksh 16.3 million.
