This archive report was first published on 2 July 2019.
Kenyan journalist Jeff Koinange, a close friend of Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, has shared a poignant account of Collymore's final days.
Collymore, who passed away on July 1, 2019, at the age of 61, had been battling cancer and had been told by his doctors that he would be lucky to make it past July.
Speaking on Citizen TV's Day Break show, Koinange recalled that Collymore's health had worsened in the recent weeks, and his body was not responding well to treatment.
"He had been told by his doctors not to make long-term plans. In fact, he had been told by his doctors that if he makes it past July he would be lucky," Koinange said.
Collymore had also informed his friends and family that he would not last very long, and had requested Safaricom to look for his successor as he would not manage to complete the one-year contract handed to him in May.
"He did inform those in charge to name his replacement, they were in a process of naming a new CEO, he told them that one-year extension they had given he was not going to make it," Koinange noted.
Collymore is survived by his wife Wambui Kamiru and four children.
