Joseph Choge: Unga Group Parts Ways With MD Less Than 3 Years After Appointment

Unga Group has let go of Managing Director Joseph Choge.

Choge joined the company in December 2021 and his last working day at Unga Group was on May 31.

The company has picked its finance and ICT director James Nyutu as the acting managing director.

The company has been making losses since its last profitability in 2021.

In November 2023, Choge announced job cuts at Unga Group citing financial constraints.

“Like many companies, we have been hit by the tough economic times in the country. Our volumes and margins are down, resulting in high fixed costs that are no longer sustainable,”

“We are exploring alternatives to compulsory redundancies, and if this proves unavoidable, we will try to minimise the number of those affected. Currently, we anticipate redundancies affecting a maximum of 50 workers,” said Choge.

Choge previously worked with Industrial Promotion Services(IPS), Airtel Gabon, and Unilever, among others, during which he held various senior positions.

He has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Nairobi (UoN), a master’s degree in International Management and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Before moving to Unga Group he held the CEO position at Premier Foods Limited.

Choge grew up in Kitale with both his parents. He was introduced to the intricacies of business early in life.

In an interview with BusinessDaily, Joseph recounted how he would ferry 100 litres of milk on his motorbike to town daily and in the process made a tidy sum.

His take-home was about KSh 200,000 per month and this convinced him not to further his studies after high school. It took the intervention of his father to convince him to join the university.

Choge is married to Brenda and the couple have four children-two boys and two girls.

The couple love pot brewed in a maths lecture hall where both are second-year students. They married in 2008, two years after finishing campus.