Safaricom has announced three major organizational changes that it says is aimed at helping the company accelerate new growth areas and deliver better customer experience.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa says the changes will help the telcos to “finish strong” the fourth quarter of its financial year building on progress made via its “agile transformation.”

The changes announced by Ndegwa have seen Esther Masese Waititu appointed Chief Financial Services Officer effective February 21, 2023, subject to regulatory approval.

Esther, who will report directly to the CEO, will provide strategic leadership and oversight to Safaricom’s Financial Services Business and lead financial services tribes and teams by developing financial products, services and solutions for consumers and enterprises.

She joins Safaricom with more than 15 years of experience in the financial services sector after serving at KCB Bank Group as the Director for Corporate Banking since 2021.

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Before KCB Esther worked at Stanbic for 10 years after joining the bank in 2011 as a Regional Product Head – Transactional Products and Services for East Africa.

In 2017, she was promoted to Executive, Strategy Development and Enablement in the bank before she took up the role of Country Head, Client Coverage, Stanbic Bank Zambia, in 2020.


From 2006-2011, she worked at Standard Chartered Bank in Relationship Management and Product Management capacities, after launching her banking career at Commercial Bank of Africa (which merged with NIC Bank to form NCBA).

Esther holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of East Africa, Baraton and a Master of Business Administration from University of Liverpool, UK and is also an AoEC Accredited Executive Coach.

At the same time, Boniface Mungania has been appointed the Director, Public Sector Digital Transformation effective April 1, 2023.

Boniface will also be reporting to the CEO and will be tasked with developing partnerships in the Public Sector to drive digital transformation for the National and County Governments.

In his new role, he will collaborate with key functional owners including Enterprise, Financial Services, Technology and Business Development to deliver solutions in an agile manner.

He will help Safaricom to identify opportunities in public sector where government can digitize and propose the right solutions to the National and County Governments.

Boniface has been the acting Chief Financial Services Officer since July 2022 after joining Safaricom in 2007 as a Customer Care Representative and rising to a Dealer Account Manager.

In 2011, he joined the Financial Services team as Senior Officer, M-Pesa Business Development and has grown and held various leadership roles in Financial Services including Senior Manager, M-Pesa Business Development, Mobile Financial Services Consultant (Vodafone Qatar) and Head of M-Pesa Products and Services Development.


In October 2021, he was appointed the Payments Tribe Lead.

“I would like to thank Boniface Mungania for his leadership of the Financial Services Team over the last eight months. During this period, we have made great strides in delivering our Financial Services mission, including receiving regulatory approval for some of our strategic initiatives, as well as launching platforms such as M-Pesa Go and supporting government to launch the Hustler Fund,” Ndegwa said.

Similarly, Zizwe Awuor Vundla has also been appointment by Safaricom as Director, Brand and Marketing with effect from February 1, 2023.  

She will also report to the CEO and will offer leadership strategy on market and product to the overall Safaricom Brand, including M-Pesa, Safaricom Business, and its foundations.

Zizwe will be the custodian, maintain and evolve those brands by devising their overall strategy and architecture.


She has 18 years of experience in Brand and Marketing and joins Safaricom from Diageo, South Africa, where she was the Head of Marketing and Innovation since 2019.

Before Diageo, she worked at Proctor and Gamble for 15 years after joining as an Assistant Brand Manager in 2004 and grew through various Brand Management roles to become the Head of Marketing and Commercial, South Africa in 2015, when she left for Diageo.

Zizwe holds a Bachelor of Business Degree from the University of Cape town.