Former President John Dramani Mahama has expressed sadness over the demise of Mr Bob Collymore, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Safaricom.

Mr Collymore died at age 61 on the morning of 1 July 2019 in his Nairobi home. He left behind a wife and four Children.

Mr Mahama in a Facebook post said: “Feeling very sad. Just heard the passing of my good friend Bob Collymore. What a loss!!

“He built Safaricom into the biggest and most prosperous brand in East Africa. He battled his illness with the same passion he approached his work. Farewell my friend.”

Bob Collymore was a Guyanese-born British businessman born on 13 January 1958. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Safaricom, a multi-national telecommunications company based in Kenya.

Beginning 1993, Mr Collymore worked in various positions in the telecommunications industry in the UK, including work for Cellnet, Dixons Retail and Vodafone UK.

In 2003, he moved to Japan to manage the integration of J-Phone into the Vodafone Group. In 2006 he became the governance director for Africa at Vodafone and subsidiary Safaricom. In 2010 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Safaricom.