Standard Group CEO Orlando Lyomu Resigns
He was appointed as Standard Group's CEO on May 25, 2018, replacing Sam Shollei who had resigned in September 2017.
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Standard Group Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Orlando Lyomu has resigned, having served five years at the station.
Viral Tea has learnt that Lyomu is currently serving notice and he is expected to exit the Mombasa Road-based media house any time from now, having been forced to resign.
Sources who told Viral Tea revealed that Lyomu's ouster was a result of boardroom wars at the media house over a financial crisis that led to a massive haemorrhage of staff including talented journalists, most of whom have joined rival media houses.
Standard Media Group offices along Mombasa Road. /STANDARD DIGITAL
In particular, the Standard Group had brought in a caretaker committee to spearhead financial operations at the century-old company, which hosts media channels such as KTN Home, KTN News, Radio Maisha, The Standard Newspaper, The Nairobian (a weekly tabloid), Vybez Radio, Spice FM, KTN Burudani and KTN Farmers.
In the midst of squabbles within the board, the media house is rumoured to be scouting for a Ksh2 billion investor to turn around its fortunes.
The conflict was alleged to have been triggered by two major shareholders in terms of the normal operations of Standard Group; one of them being the family of the late former president Daniel Arap Moi, regarding the direction the company would take with Lyomu still in charge.
At times, when scuffles ensued, the shareholders would meet to discuss strategy as well as agree on a plan, but this was not the case this time round.
Their decision not to put money in the business was said to have been captured in confrontations which spread across the business which was struggling to meet its financial obligations for several months, leaving the company mandated to make strategic decisions to emerge from the financial deficiency.
Viral Tea was unable to independently trace the depth at which the wrangles had got. A spot check on Lyomu's Twitter account revealed that his last activity was a retweet from the media house wishing its followers a happy Eid-Al-Adha Mubarak.
Lyomu is a business leader with over 15 years of executive leadership experience in different industries. Demonstrated success in driving business growth and profitability through effective strategic planning, team building, and relationship management.
He was appointed as Standard Group's CEO on May 25, 2018, replacing Sam Shollei who had resigned in September 2017. Lyomu was the Group’s Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer prior to his ascension to the top role.
Before venturing into the media, he worked in the petroleum industry and was in charge of operations across four countries primarily Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
Lyomu at the media house was largely blamed for the mass firings initiated to cut costs, a move that was understood to have slowed down after the company discovered that it did not have the requisite finances to pay laid-off staff, giving them temporary relief.
The firings also manifested arguably the worst talent haemorrhage ever, with its competition picking SMG's star performers.
Among the popular names to have left the media house include Mercy Korir, news anchor Sharon Momanyi, seasoned Foreign Affairs editor, Lilian Odera, seasoned journalist Frank Otieno and editor Ted Malanda as well as Sheila Kwamboka, Nazizi Hirji, Fredrick Odeo Sirari, Lynda Oriaso and Geoffrey Mung'ou, among others.
