Before joining KPC as Chief Accountant in 2010, Pius Mwendwa spent more than a decade at Nation Media Group, rising through the finance ranks.
He left with a five-year plan. “I wanted to debunk the narrative that it’s hard to grow in a State corporation,” he says. “I was to be here for five years, then move on.”
Fifteen years later, he occupies the sixth-floor corner office at KPC headquarters in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, serving as acting Managing Director—a role he says fulfils a long-held ambition, whether permanent or not.
“When the history books are written, I will have made my contribution and left my legacy. Nobody can take that away from me, even if it was just five months.”
Mwendwa attributes his rise to a willingness to think beyond the traditional boundaries of his profession. “If I were not dreaming, I wouldn’t be where I am,” he says. “It’s probably why there are more accountants becoming CEOs than before.”
With a Master of Commerce from Strathmore University and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Mwendwa also holds a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (CPA-K) and is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
Fear, he argues, is often the biggest obstacle to leadership.
“If I fear, I will not progress. Even if they called me today to be the President of Kenya, I wouldn’t fear. Chapa kazi.”
The corner office, however, comes at a cost. “You can’t plan your day because anything can come up. If you’re not careful, you can easily lose your social life,” he says.
When you got this job, who was the first person you called and what did they tell you?
I hadn’t applied for it. It just happened in a flash, over the Easter holiday. I was at Machakos Golf Club with my wife, playing a round when the chair of the board called me.
Given the requirements of the Capital Markets Authority, a press release was to be written the same day. All the balls I was teeing off were hitting the bush [chuckles].
Have the type of phone calls that you receive changed?
Immediately after the press release, I was called by many people—former colleagues, former KPC directors, very senior people. Every other time I receive calls from policymakers, the Cabinet Secretary (CS), PS and CEOs.
What does a big office do to a man like you?
It humbles you [chuckles]. For me, the big office is not really the space you’re occupying; it’s the responsibility that you’re taking. Especially one like this, which drives the economy of the country and the region.
I now have to look at life very differently. I have to reorganise my time. Here, you can’t plan your day because anything can come up, like urgent meetings with the CS. If you’re not careful, you can easily lose your social life.
Growing up, what kind of dreams did you have?
My desire was actually to be a journalist. I was very good at languages. I even went for voice tests at some point [chuckles]. I did accountancy and never looked back, but I always dreamt of leading an organisation, even though I didn’t know which type.
I was just sure I was not going to do finance for the rest of my life. When you get to the apex of finance, the general manager finance, or Group Finance Director, the next level is a CEO.
What aspects of journalism do you bring into your career?
I believe journalism is about telling the story. And one of the things that I find very relevant in my career, and especially in this position, is to try to tell the story of the organisation, the different aspects of life, and the transformation that one can make. When it’s not told, it’s not known.
Do accountants daydream—and what do those dreams look like?
[Chuckles] A lot! You might see accountants engrossed in numbers, but they dream. In my daydreaming, I look at myself, picture where I want to be, and start working toward that dream. If I were not dreaming, I wouldn’t be where I am. It’s probably why more accountants are becoming CEOs than before.
If someone were to interview the people who knew you at 16 years old, what would they say they saw in you that today’s headlines have not?
Calmness and managing my emotions. I am analytical. I like looking at situations before I make a judgment.
What was your relationship with money growing up?
Very strict [chuckles]. I was doing my personal finances even before I started accounting. I’ve tried as much as possible to spend within my resources and my needs.
I look at money from the perspective of what value it generates. You have to convince me that if I’m spending that shilling, I will get value. Even my family knows that when I go shopping, I’d rather buy one nice pair of shoes a year than 10 pairs in a year. I stopped buying mitumba for this reason.
It’s a common belief, or perhaps a misconception, that accountants are there to stifle expenditure rather than to maximise its creation. Is this true?
It is a perception, not the reality. Numbers don’t lie. Accountants are stewards, and what a steward does is take care of what has been placed on them.
This is unlike marketers who just want to spend whether it is generating or not. Accountants look at the value to be generated, and I think that is where the misconception comes in, because we’ll always ask a lot of questions. When you see people praising an accountant all the time, know that’s not a very good accountant.
In what area of your life has money been your master?
Investments. I have several insurance policies. Once I invest, I also plow back the investments into other ventures that generate income, because I believe that you cannot generate income when your money is not multiplying.
Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Acting Managing Director Pius Mwendwa pictured on July 27, 2026 at Kenpipe plaza in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
What are your current money beliefs?
Ideally, money should work for you. And if you put that in mind, you’ll not spend money recklessly. Of course I still want to go on holidays, buy good things and dine with my family, but that money has to work for me.
What is a business cliché or something that everyone repeats that you now know to be dangerous or wrong?
I don’t believe in luck like charity sweepstakes or betting. I’ve never believed that there’s luck in getting money and creating wealth. You have to go through the long route. I can almost guarantee you those who make money through betting never get anywhere.
You grew up without wealth and have considerably built some for yourself. How are you keeping your children hungry, seeing as lack is not their motivator?
Every afternoon we sit down and share experiences. I have a boy in fourth year, and a girl in first year. I encourage them to know that my work is to empower them to generate their own income when they grow up, through a culture of hard work and self-reliance. I’ve also made them understand that what I have belongs to me and their mother, it doesn’t belong to them.
They have to find their own wealth. I’ve also told them that whatever I’m generating is also to ensure that when they are grown-ups, I don’t become a burden to them.
How do you remain a father at home seeing that this job is a jealous mistress that can demand most of your time, and often gets it?
Luckily, my two children are now grown-ups. I was very deliberate about spending weekends with my family, and on weekdays I don’t stay out late unless I have to.
I am here by 7am and leave at 6pm, and I eat my lunch here at the office. I’ll do my exercise at home in the evening, and I usually sleep quite early. My wife and son play golf, so you’ll find us doing a round together as we bond. My son is actually the best golfer in the family, although once in a while I win.
What do you wish your children knew about you that they don’t?
I put up a very strong face even when things are not going the way they should. I can share with my wife, but I understand that children are very fragile. Also, they look at their father as a strong person, a leader, and when you seem like you are lost and have fear, they will also get lost and be fearful.
Do you ever worry that by protecting your children from your vulnerability, you may also be teaching them that strength means suffering in silence?
I would say yes and no because one of the things that I usually tell them is to share when they have troubles. But you need to know who you are sharing with—there are people you can share your troubles with and they break. I share mine with my wife and close confidants, but I try to spare my children, so I don’t disorganise them.
Have you changed as a husband over the years?
I don’t think so. Some say I am very predictable. I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing [chuckles]. Not much has changed, but I try as much as possible to be a mentor and have a positive impact on my wife.
My wife calls me her role model, and that tells you I have impacted her life. If your wife loves you, she will not let you leave the house looking shabby. She has moulded me in that way, and I listen to her a lot.
Has marriage made you a better leader, or has leadership made you a better husband?
[Chuckles] Marriage has made me a better leader by virtue of the fact that leadership starts at home. If you can’t lead at home, you can’t lead an organisation. Similarly, if you cannot navigate family issues and provide the right leadership, which translates to you having peace and good family relations, that will impact how you lead at work. The first test of leadership is your family.
Businesses reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Marriages have to do something similar. Life keeps asking both of you to become different people—parents, empty nesters, perhaps grandparents. How have you learned to keep rediscovering one another instead of clinging to who you used to be?
You have to marry a friend. Marriages require transitions, but if you are friends, you will be building each other because life presents different phases, and it is easier to adjust when you are friends. That is the critical element. Friendship.
Since you are still acting MD, are you ever worried that you are not the man they eventually pick for the job?
I’m not worried, because whichever way it goes, I have been in this company for 15 years, and nobody can take away the contribution I have made. And even if I were not to be confirmed for the position for the period that I will have served, I am certainly sure I will have made my contribution, and left my legacy, even if it was just five months.
I started acting at a very delicate period when the company went through a transition from a State corporation to a publicly listed company, and when history books are written, they will remember me as the person who navigated that. If I were to be told to go back to the position that I was in, I would happily go back and continue.
What has success not fixed?
The fact that I am human. I am still vulnerable and exposed to the hassles of this world, and I have to navigate to ensure that I manage any vulnerabilities that come with success.
When you are successful, you get to understand why they say success has many mothers and fathers. Everybody will be on your case everywhere you go. People want to identify with you, and they come with a lot of demands and expectations beyond what you are able to.
Did getting this job feel as good as you thought it would?
It did, because my initial target was to get to be a CEO in my mid-40s. I am now in my early 50s. There’s no wrong time, and there are many people who may never get to the head of finance, which I became at 45, so it’s step by step. These things are all relative. Some will say 50 is still young, and they may be right because the average age of CEOs is 50, and I am happy with that [chuckles].
What has become much more important to you now in your 50s as compared to your 30s?
The legacy. You start planning more for your retirement. You look at how many people you have mentored, and focus more on the impact of your life.
50 years in, what experience has significantly shaped your life?
I try very much to identify with the Bible. I have served in my church since I was young, and one thing that has given me the impetus to continue is humility—just to be able to associate with and respect everyone, and to do the right thing. Integrity comes first, and without it you cannot rise. Joshua 1:9 tells you to be courageous. It is actually a command.
When I was given this responsibility in the midst of turmoil, I asked myself, will I manage? I said fear is my worst enemy, and if I fear, I will not progress. That’s my advice: Do not fear even if they call you to be the President of Kenya today. Don’t fear. Chapa kazi.
