At 44, Kathryne Maundu has served as company secretary for over 250 companies in Kenya, including heavyweights like Safaricom, East African Breweries, BAT Kenya, and Eaagads Limited.
This has seen her grace thousands of boardroom meetings, rubbing shoulders with the who and whos of various sectors in the economy and hearing company secrets that we may never know.
She is the current company secretary for NCBA Group Kenya.
This is her journey as told by WoK:
In-House Lawyer
After graduating with a diploma from the Kenya School of Law, Maundu began her career as an in-house lawyer in 2003.
A year later, she moved to Deloitte to work as a consultant.
Over a period of 9 years, she rose to the position of senior manager before exiting the company to work as a partner at Stamford Corporate Services LLP, also offering the services of an outsourced company secretary.
While there, she has served over 250 companies as a public secretary.
She has graced the boardroom tables of multiple companies, witnessing how the top guns react to success and failure.
Naturally, she has heard numerous secrets concerning these companies and how they run.
“We hear a lot of things in the boardroom. You’ve got to know what to share with third parties and why,” she told Business Daily.
Serving multiple companies means she has to be very organized and make several sacrifices concerning her personal space.
Earlier this year, she exited her role as company secretary for four Nairobi Security Exchange-listed firms: Safaricom, East African Breweries, BAT Kenya, and Eaagads Limited.
In interviews, she said she made the decision in order to create time to focus on herself, her hobbies, friends, and families.
She hoped the exit would strike a balance between her personal life and the high-pressure job.
She now serves only the NCBA Group.
Kathryne Maundu Responsibilities
As a company secretary, one of her biggest responsibilities is interpreting basic financial records like other board members.
One also needs to be familiar with the laws and regulations in the market, ensuring the directors comply with them.
She advises aspiring company secretaries to hone their note-taking skills and enrich their skills in the areas of communication, and governance audit.
Finally, a good secretary should keep up with technology, track changing regulations, be attentive to detail, and be able to read the mood of the board as quickly as possible.
Under the Kenyan Companies Act 2015, every public company is required to have a company secretary.
However, for private companies, they must have a paid-up capital of sh 5 million and above.
According to Career Point Kenya, the salary of a company secretary in Kenya ranges between sh 70 000 – 80 000.
To become a corporate secretary, one must first undertake a certified secretarial course offered by KASNEB.
Upon qualification, one is registered with the Registration of Certified Public Secretaries Board, after which they are issued a practicing certificate by the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries in Kenya.
