lthough the High Court initially set aside the award in 2016, the Court of Appeal reinstated it in November 2020 after proceedings that reached the Supreme Court, triggering years of enforcement litigation over the landmark property.
The petitioners’ advocates want the court to determine three novel constitutional questions arising from the enforcement of the decree.
They want the court to decide whether interest could lawfully accrue while the arbitral award had been set aside, whether Section 44A(4) of the Banking Act unconstitutionally excludes judgment debtors from the in duplum rule, and whether enforcing the Sh10.6 billion debt disproportionately limits the petitioners’ constitutional property rights.
_: Abdi Mohamed has resigned as Absa Bank Kenya chief executive officer (CEO) three years after he took the job.
Long-serving chief financial officer Yusuf Omari is expected to hold the fort at the corner office, as he did in October 2022 when the then CEO, Jeremy Awori, stepped down to take a job at Ecobank Transnational.
Sources indicate that Mr Mohamed, who took over as Absa Bank Kenya boss on May 1, 2023, is set to take up a leadership role at another bank within the Kenyan market. Some sources linked him to a new role at regional lender I and M Bank even though the Business Daily could not immediately verify that.
Mr Mohamed’s exit comes at a time when Absa Bank Kenya’s parent firm, Johannesburg-based Absa Group, is in the market with a Sh31 billion offer to increase its stake in the Kenyan unit from 68.5 percent to 85.0 percent by acquiring an additional 895.9 million ordinary shares.
The offer closes on August 11.
Absa Group’s push to grow its stake in the Kenya unit signals its confidence in the growth prospects in the wider East African market and its chase for a bigger piece of the returns pie. The return on equity rose steadily from 19.3 percent in 2021 to peak at 24.5 percent in 2024 before moderating to 22.8 percent in 2025.
The exit of Mr Mohamed also comes at a time when other South African lenders are making deeper inroads into the Kenyan and East African market, with the latest major development being Nedbank’s Sh110.4 billion acquisition of a 66 percent stake in NCBA Group.
In early June 2026, Absa Group received the green light from the Bank of Uganda to acquire Standard Chartered Bank’s Wealth and Retail business unit, paving the way for the conclusion of a deal that began in October 2025.
The exit of Mr Mohamed as Absa Bank Kenya’s boss brings to a close an era dominated by enhanced operational efficiency through aggressive investment in digital transformation.
During his tenure, Absa Bank Kenya’s cost-to-income ratio declined from 41 percent in 2023 to 37 percent in the year ended December 31, 2025, pointing to the gains of improved efficiencies in the bank’s operations.
It is also under Mr Mohamed that Absa Bank Kenya has undertaken aggressive revenue diversification away from the traditional funded business, as interest income came under pressure owing to the policy actions by the Central Bank of Kenya.
Over the last three years, bancassurance, asset management, and brokerage have emerged to play an increasingly significant role as growth revenue engines in Absa Bank Kenya’s business.
In May 2025, Absa Bank Kenya relaunched its custody business, marking yet another move to diversify its revenue streams as it leaned towards the rapidly growing fund management landscape in the country, with pension industry assets under management now at Sh2.8 trillion.
Whereas in 2024, bancassurance, asset management, custody, and brokerage accounted for just one percent of the bank’s total revenue, in 2025 they accounted for 5.0 percent, signalling their growing significance in the business and the rebalancing of revenue engines.
Filings by Absa Bank Kenya reveal that its bancassurance business posted a 37 percent year-on-year increase in revenue in 2025, placing it amongst the top players in the country.
Mr Mohamed, however, faced a challenging first quarter in 2026, after Absa Bank Kenya’s profit after tax had contracted 13.9 percent to close March 2026 at Sh5.3 billion.
In the period ended March 2026, the bank’s net interest income came under immense pressure, declining by 7.9 percent to Sh10.4 billion, while non-interest income declined by 5.2 percent to Sh4.3 billion.
The challenging performance notwithstanding, the bank reported steady improvement in its asset quality with the non-performing loss ratio closing the quarter at 11.6 percent, an improvement from 13.1 percent in the same period in 2025 and pointing to tighter credit risk management amidst a challenging environment.
Mr Mohamed’s exit from Absa Bank Kenya is the latest in a series of changes in the top leadership of Kenya’s banking sector.
In January 2026, Nancy Njau was appointed the CEO of Family Bank following the exit of Rebecca Mbithi, who was soon appointed Ecobank Kenya CEO effective February 9.
In February, Commercial International Bank (CIB) Kenya tapped former NCBA Group Corporate and Investment Banking Director Tirus Mwithiga as CEO.
In March, Stanbic Bank Kenya looked inward to appoint Abraham Ongenge as acting CEO following Joshua Oigara’s transition to Regional CEO.
In April, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya appointed Birju Sanghrajka following the exit of Kariuki Ngari, while in May, Sidian Bank tapped former KCB Bank Kenya Director of Corporate Banking, John Okulo as CEO.