Williamson Tea's CEO Transition Marks 10th Listed C-Suite Shift in a Year

Williamson Tea Kenya and sister company Kapchorua Tea Kenya on Monday announced the retirement of Alan Laurence Carmichael as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective 31 March 2026, marking the 10th top-level leadership change at a Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed company in the past 12 months.

• •Carmichael, who was appointed in February 2008, is stepping down after an 18-year tenure at the helm of both tea companies and a career spanning more than five decades in the industry and will transition to a Non-Executive Director role.
• • Angus Nyariki Omete, who takes over on 1 April 2026, joined Williamson Tea in November 1999 as a graduate trainee and has spent his entire 26-year career within the group, most recently as Group Chief Financial Officer.
• •The Carmichael-to-Omete handover is the 10th top-level leadership change at an NSE-listed company since March 2025.

In February, Omete stepped into the Executive Director role vacated by Samuel Ndungu Thumbi, who retired after 44 years of service.

The leadership change comes as the two companies navigate a difficult stretch. Williamson Tea Kenya swung to a net loss of KSh 166 million for the year ended March 2025 from a KSh 527 million profit the year before, hit by a 6% drop in tea production and tighter quality controls on bought leaf.

Kapchorua Tea has fared better, posting a KSh 95 million net profit for the six months ended September 2025, up 422 percent year on year.

The Change of Guard on the Bourse

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya is losing both its CEO, Kariuki Ngari, and CFO, Chemutai Murgor, after decades-long tenures. Stanbic Holdings has appointed Joshua Oigara as CEO effective March 2026. Kenya Airways put Captain George Kamal in as acting CEO in December after Allan Kilavuka's contract expired.

Crown Paints, WPP Scangroup, Longhorn Publishers and the Standard Group have all changed their top executives in the same period.