Kenyans & AGMs

Sunny Bindra writes about AGMs becoming entertainment rather than serious affairs.

I have been to a few AGMs and most are pathetic where little business is done & hardly any serious questions are asked.

The questions revolve around food (or lack thereof), freebies, share registrars and food. Yes, Kenyans take their 'free' food seriously.

I think firms should follow the Jubilee system which gave out vouchers for discounted Life Insurance. This keeps the riff raff out. The firms that want to curry favour with the shareholders - so no tough questions are asked - include BAT & Nation.

The Nation AGM started late courtesy of a song & dance gig - Sunny doesn't mention it but that is what he is referring to. I did like the 'newspaper' giveaway which is a nominal cost to them but did they have to do the bag?

It is disgusting to watch certain shareholders - names withheld - who are worth 10s, if not 100s, of millions scrambling for food. We know who they are.

Then the question time... the same shareholders ask the same questions year in, year out. They are long-winded and take ages to get to the point. If they ever do!

Then there are the shareholders who get flustered when there are 2 AGMs at the same time. They literally run from one to the other not for the questions but the food & freebies!

I have written on the waste of time these AGMs can be.

So why do I go? While the scramble for the food is going on, I can corner the MD or FD...