The immediate former Safaricom CEO, the late Bob Collymore, has been attributed to so many mind-boggling events and changes that have impacted the lives of millions in the nation while at the helm of the giant telco.
From late 2017, the celebrated corporate boss went on medical leave for several months in London and admitted that at some point, he doubted whether he would make it from the jaws of cancer that he suffered from.
While speaking to a Nation reporter, Bob shared an instance where his 10-year-old adopted daughter Serah spoke words that moved him to the core.
"My 50s is also when I was diagnosed with cancer and to think of life, my wife Wambui and my daughter Serah. I also wonder if things will work out; will I get back to Nairobi or is this it; and when I look back at my life how do I feel about that?" he pondered.
He then went on to give details of the words that his daughter told him when he was bound for his treatment in Britain that gave him satisfaction he had never had before.
"I had a conversation with my daughter and she said, ‘daddy you’ll come back, you are a good man.’ I asked why and she said, 'Because of what you do for girls, for children through Safaricom and what you do for the poor',” he narrated.
"For my 10-year-old daughter to say that, to say “you are a good man,” really mattered a lot to me. So I said if I don’t see 61, I’m good," Collymore muttered wistfully.
The late Safaricom CEO also shared his future plans on helping the cancer patients in Kenya who knew that their death was imminent and could do nothing about it.
When asked about his purpose for his life in the 60s, he answered in a convicted manner.
"That’s a good question. I know purpose is to help as many people as I can to do the right thing. I have talked about cancer children at KNH on palliative care, children who know they will die and not dying in the best circumstances. My question is; can I sway people or the government to do the right thing for them? Can I make business deals that will look at the climate change or impact it in a good way? Can I do more to encourage great transparency, reduce fraud and corruption ?" he loudly wondered.
Bob Collymore died in the wee hours of Monday morning after his long courageous battle with cancer at his home in Kitusuru, Nairobi. He has been condoled by many Kenyans led by the President Uhuru Kenyatta, deputy president Ruto and ODM party leader Raila Odinga.
