Nation Media Group Plc has announced changes to its Board of Directors, with four directors stepping down and five new members appointed.
In an announcement on August 28, Nation Media Group said it has appointed Julie Gichuru, Julius Kangogo Kipng’etich, Juliana Rotich, Georgia Mutagahywa, Bharat Thakrar and Wilfred Musau to its Board of Directors.
The appointments took effect on August 28, 2026, following the conclusion of a recent transaction.
The company said the new directors’ diverse experience across East Africa and beyond would strengthen the Board as NMG responds to opportunities and challenges in the media industry.
“They bring a strong combination of experience across media, communications, technology, digital transformation, financial services, corporate leadership, governance, marketing and stakeholder engagement. Their diverse perspectives and experience across East Africa and beyond will strengthen the Board as Nation Media Group continues to evolve and respond to the opportunities and challenges shaping our industry,” read part of the announcement.
The changes followed the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED)’s exit from its investment in Nation Media Group, ending its 66-year association with the media company.
AKFED sold its 100% shareholding in NPRT Holdings Africa Limited to Taarifa Ltd, a wholly owned affiliate of Tanzania’s Taifa Group, controlled by businessman Rostam Azizi.
Four Directors Exit Nation Media Group Board in Major Changes
The changes also saw four directors step down from the Board. They are Sultan Ali Akbar Allana, Fayyaz Nurmohamed, Al-noor Ramji and Prof Nancy Booker.
NMG Group Chairman Joe Muganda said the outgoing directors had served the company in various capacities across the Board and its committees.
“On behalf of the Board and Nation Media Group, I extend our sincere appreciation to them for their dedicated service and contribution to the organization and wish them every success in the future,” read part of the announcement.
Who Are the New Directors?
Julie Gichuru is a celebrated Kenyan media personality and corporate leader, best known for her pioneering career in broadcast journalism.
She has worked at KTN, NTV and Citizen TV, where she hosted several leading current affairs programmes.
On the other hand, Julius Kipng’etich is a Kenyan business executive and the current CEO of Jubilee Holdings Plc.
He began his career in academia, where he helped establish parallel degree programmes at the University of Nairobi.
He later served as CEO and Director of Kenya Wildlife Service from 2004 to 2012 before joining Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd, where he was CEO and Director from 2016 to 2017.
Additionally, Bharat Thakrar is a prominent Kenyan advertising executive and the founder and former long-serving CEO of WPP Scangroup Plc, one of East Africa’s leading marketing communications firms.
He later transitioned into corporate boardroom leadership.
Meanwhile, Juliana Rotich is a renowned Kenyan technologist and entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Ushahidi, an open-source crisis mapping platform, and Nairobi’s iHub technology hub.
Georgia Mutagahywa is a Tanzanian corporate affairs and strategic communications executive with over 30 years of experience across East Africa.
Wilfred Musau is a Kenyan corporate executive and banker who served as Managing Director and CEO of National Bank of Kenya (NBK) from 2016 to 2019.
Nation Media Group Records Third Consecutive Annual Loss
Nation Media Group reported a net loss of KSh308.6 million for the full year ended December 31, 2025, marking its third consecutive annual loss as declining print revenues continued to weigh on the business.
The company’s turnover fell 3.1% to KSh6.04 billion from KSh6.23 billion in 2024, while its loss before tax widened by 26.5% to KSh320.8 million.
Earnings per share also deteriorated to negative KSh1.80 from negative KSh1.50 a year earlier.
NMG’s financial performance has declined significantly from its 2013 peak, when the company recorded turnover of KSh13.37 billion and net profit of KSh2.53 billion.
By 2025, turnover had fallen by nearly 55%, while the profit had turned into a KSh308.6 million loss.
The decline came amid a broader contraction in Kenya’s newspaper market, with daily newspaper circulation falling from about 117,000 copies in 2011 to 39,300 in 2024.
Although higher cover prices and growth in digital and broadcasting revenues had partly cushioned the decline in print, the buffer had continued to narrow.
The board also withheld the final dividend for the second consecutive year.
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