Standard Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Orlando Lyomu has called it quits.
Highly placed sources privy to the matter confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke on Wednesday, June 28, that the executive who joined the media house in 2013, was forced to quit and is serving notice.
The source hinted that the decision was attributed to boardroom wars over a financial crunch that afflicted the Mombasa Road-based media house.
A second source who preferred to remain anonymous confirmed to this writer that the Standard Media Group board had brought in a caretaker committee to take over the financial obligations of the company during the transition period.
Further, the source hinted that the company was shopping for an investor to inject Ksh2 billion to boost operations.
Boardroom Wars
The source claimed that the conflict stemmed from a clash between the two principal shareholders; the Moi Family and another top investor.
According to the source, differences emerged in the direction the two camps wanted the company to take as well as disagreements on the day-to-day operations of the company.
"On occasions when a scuffle ensued, they would convene and discuss strategy and agree on a plan. However, in this particular case, no one wanted to put their money in the business," the source stated.
The confrontation caused a ripple effect to the business which faced financial constraints in its daily operations.
The source noted that the company is now required to make strategic decisions to emerge out of the cash crunch.
Kenyans.co.ke could not, however, independently verify how deep the boardroom wrangles run.
Lyomu was appointed as Standard Group's CEO on May 25, 2018, replacing Sam Shollei who tendered his resignation in September 2017.
Lyomu, who was the Group Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer, had also been serving as the media house's acting CEO until his confirmation in May.
The outgoing CEO boasts over two decades of senior management-level experience handling financial and risk management operations. Before venturing into the media, he worked in the petroleum industry and was in charge of operations across four countries primarily Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
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