Former Equity Bank CEO and Founder John Mwangi is Dead

Former Equity Bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder John Kagema Mwangi has passed away.

Mwangi reportedly passed on while receiving treatment at a hospital in Nairobi after ailing for some time.

He is an accomplished entrepreneur and businessman who own a number of businesses including the famous Enashipai Spa & Resort in Naivasha, Nakuru County.

“It is with profound shock and sadness that we have learned of the demise of Mr. John Kagema Mwangi of Enashipai Resort & Spa located in Naivasha. As a leading indigenous investor in the hospitality industry, he was instrumental in the elevation of Naivasha as a leading destination for business conference and leisure," says Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui in a statement.

"His dedication and commitment to detail was unmatched, making Enashipai a favorable destination for high profile meetings./We join family and friends in mourning the demise of a great Kenyan, who has left a mark in Nakuru County and Kenya at large.” 

It was under Mwangi's leadership that the Equity Building Society transformed into Equity Bank with him as the CEO, while the current Equity Group CEO James Mwangi became the finance director.

Immediate former Equity Bank Group chairman Peter Munga has in the past been quoted saying that Kagema risked his personal welfare to bring up Equity Bank.

 “John Mwangi sacrificed his lucrative job as Marketing Manager of EAO and risked the welfare of his own family by sticking with the institution as the Executive Director, even at its brink of collapse during the banking crises of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He concentrated all his efforts on managing the institution and if it failed he could have been exposed to the extent that he could have found it difficult even to feed his family.”