Daniel Ndonye is an Independent Chairman at the I&M Bank. He is a chartered accountant by profession, having worked with Deloitte & Touche for over 30 years, 20 of which he was the Managing/Senior Partner.
Ndonye has sat on the boards of leading corporations and state agencies in the country including the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
Background & Education
Daniel Ndonye hails from a humble background. During his early years, he used to herd his elder brother’s cows and goats on instructions from his mother. The animals would sometimes wonder into neighbour’s fields and graze or damage crops and Ndonye would get a thorough beating for it.
“I decided to focus on education, and I started topping in standard one. In 1960, I sat this exam called common entrance exam. It was an examination which most people failed, but I passed it in the first attempt. When I sat for the CPE paper, I got a letter inviting me to go to Alliance High School for form one,” Ndonye narrated during an interview with Capital News.
The fear of herding cows all his life drove him to embrace reading and as a result, he achieved many firsts in his career.
The I&M Bank chairman was the person to First to get first class honour in Bachelor of Commerce in Kenya, First Black Managing Senior Partner at Deloitte, First ICAEW member in Africa and First Black Chair of The Members Advisory Board of (ICAEW).
“It’s actually negative motivation that got me going. I wanted to sit for my exams, pass and go to a school far away so that I couldn’t herd cows. When I went to school and started doing well, there was this motivation to just keep doing well. Success motivates,” Ndonye recounts.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya and the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya.
Career
Daniel Ndonye sits on the boards of several companies, among which Four (5) are listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
He was the first Kenyan Managing Senior Partner at Deloitte, and the African fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
Ndonye was a board member at EPRA until September 2023 when Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir fired the board and replaced it with new members.
