Safaricom Interim CEO Michael Joseph, on Tuesday night, opened up about his own battle with cancer during his first stint as the head of Safaricom.
Appearing on K24 TV, the soft-spoken leader narrated that in 2003, he suffered colon cancer but was lucky enough to get treatment and survive it.
So serious was the situation that Joseph, at some point, performed his managerial duties while in a hospital bed.
"Not many people know that I am also a cancer survivor and that I was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 whilst the CEO of Safaricom.
"I was fortunate enough to be diagnosed, treated, operations and now I am a cancer survivor," he disclosed.
When asked what his plans were regarding cancer pandemic in the country, most particularly if he thought about setting up a center to deal with the disease, he intimated that the move was still in the offing.
"I don't have any direct plans to do that (set up a cancer center) although they should probably know that Safaricom Foundation has spent a lot of money in the health field.
"I am sure in the memory of Bob (Collymore), we will do more now in terms of preventing and helping the treatment of cancer," he curtly answered.
In an earlier interview with The Standard, Joseph stated that during the ordeal, he approved some critical company projects while bedridden.
“It was a long drawn out affair and for some time, I ran Safaricom from a hospital bed.
“People would bring me advertisements to approve and all that and then they would be worried because I had tubes running all over my body,” he told the publication.
The late Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore had a battle with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) before he succumbed on Monday, July 1.
He was laid to rest on Tuesday.
