Peter Njonjo, the CEO and co-founder of Twiga, has resigned from the company board after leading the company for 10 years.
He made the announcement in a letter to the board, dated January 4, 2024.
He addressed the letter to Mr Hein Pretorius, the Twiga Holdings board chairman, and copied it to dozens of Twiga shareholders.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Njonjo mentioned that he had tendered his resignation earlier , on December 7, 2023.
That was just after he led the company to close a new round of funding estimated at $35million.
A funding round where he also participated in investing along with Credev and Juven who led the round.
“This also highlighted my commitment to the business, by being the third largest investor, after Creadev and Juven. It was against this backdrop that I decided to resign as CEO and Board member, on the 7th of December 2023, because now the Company was in a strong position, and we had revamped the capability of the management team.” He said.
Twiga had just come out of a protracted chain of operational headwinds, ranging from staff layoffs to deferred payments owed to suppliers, as well as delayed salaries for workers.
He also pointed out that he agreed to work through a 6 month transition period as requested by the board, to buy time for recruiting a replacement.
“At the request of the board after my resignation, I agreed to stay on the Twiga Board and work through a six-month transition that allowed for the recruitment of a new CEO. “
Twiga at the time announced, on December 14, 2023, that its long-serving CEO had taken a six-month leave.
However, Njonjo wrote for an official resignation in January, cutting short his 6 months “leave”/transition period.
“Currently, the strategic direction and daily operations are now firmly in the hands of Juven and Creadev and there is little value I can add from this point on”… “In this regard, I would like to resign as a Director of Twiga Holdings. As a Founder, I will remain a committed shareholder of Twiga.” His letter read.
Business Daily reported Mr Njonjo dismissing claims that he was being ejected by a boardroom coup. Mr. Njonjo said
“I have strong faith in the current board and the management team, and I have decided that at this point in the company’s journey, I would want to play the role of a supportive shareholder.”
At Njonjo’s exit, the company tasked its senior officers with extra responsibilities;
Chief Operating Officer, Laurent Gouault is now also head of operational and commercial.
Chief Financial Officer, Zuber Momoniat now heads finance and legal functions.
Twiga Foods is a Kenya based business-to-business marketplace platform that sources produce directly from farmers and delivers it to urban retailers.
Njonjo founded Twiga in 2013 and led the company until December 2023.