Reportedly one of the wealthiest individuals in Kenya, Peter Munga has vast interests in the banking, investment, education and food processing industries. Born in 1943 in Kangema, he founded Equity Building Society with Ksh5,000 capital.
The company overcame turbulent times to become one of the largest banks in East Africa, Equity bank. His shares in Equity and British American Investments Company are said to be worth millions of dollars.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Education
A certified public secretary, he has two honorary doctorates from the University of Nairobi and Kenya Methodist University.
These are: Doctor of Letters and Entrepreneurship. The alumnus of Gaichanjiru High School also has a diploma in Human Resources and Financial Management.
Career
Peter Munga founded Equity Building Society in 1984. While it managed to build a vast client network, it went through some tough times. At one point, they were losing Ksh5 million annually and had lost tens of millions before they decided to bring James Mwangi on board.
The young visionary, 31 at the time, initiated changes that slowly and steadily managed to turn the institution fortune around. In August 2004, Equity Building Society transformed to Equity Bank Group and became listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in 2006.
In 1994, he founded Equatorial Nut Processors Limited. Initially, the company processed macadamia nuts but evolved to include other products, like, cashew nuts, soy beans, peanuts, sorghum, cotton and millet.
In 1996, he founded Pioneer Group of Schools on a former colonial sisal farm along the ridges of Maragua. The school started offering primary education under the 8-4-4 curriculum before eventually introducing high school education.
Peter Munga then founded Pioneer International University which was accredited in 2012 to offer degrees, diplomas, professional and certificate courses.
Apart from being the chairman of Equity, the seasoned businessman has also chaired various committees and organizations, such as:
- Housing Finance Foundation
- Micro Enterprises Support Program Trust
- Murang’a water and sewerage company
- Equatorial Nut Processors Limited
- Pioneer Group of Schools
- Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Center
- National Oil Corporation of Kenya
- FreshCo International Limited
Awards
Some of the awards under his belt include:
- First Class Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear
- Second Class Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya
- Chairman of the year by Capital Markets Authority
- Yara prize given by Yara Foundation for his role in transforming the lives and fortunes of thousands of small scale farmers.
Controversies
The award winning businessman has been in the middle of a few scandals.
Reports emerged that some of his properties were set to be auctioned. Legacy Auctioneering Services reported through a public notice the scheduled auction of two of his commercial properties in Murang’a county on 13th October 2023.
The properties are spread across 0.36 acres of land. His residential properties sitting on 15.6 acres in Meru is also at jeopardy.
In 2021, he was embroiled in a scandal that lost Mauritius billions of rupees. The Mauritius government found out the shares, sold in 2016, were sold at a low value. He acquired the 452.5 million shares for less yet other companies were willing to pay a higher amount.
“The public interest in this matter was the sale of the Britam shares to Kenyans at MUR2.4bn when there had been an agreement with one potential buyer a few months earlier for MUR4.3bn. That is a legitimate public interest,” the inquiry report stated.
2017, five of his properties worth Sh400 million were set to be auctioned. He narrowly escaped this through a last-minute payment at Jamii Bora bank.
