Mary M’Mukindia is a woman of many firsts in Kenya’s oil and gas industry. The first female trainee of Kenya’s arm of Exxon Mobil, she rose through the ranks to become to become general sales manager and later played a crucial part in creating the Petroleum Institute of East Africa. M’Mukindia was also the first female managing director of National Oil Corporation of Kenya, steering it into a profit- making institution. With a career spanning over 30 years, she has gained a reputation as a seasoned public and private sector executive that gets the job done.
A top-tier executive who is almost brutally honest about herself is hard to find. But Mary M’Mukindia strives to be just that in her various roles as a mother, leader and mentor. The chairperson of the board of directors of Jacaranda Holdings that owns Jacaranda Group of Hotels takes full responsibility for her decisions. From the highs of success
to the lows of failure, the buck stops with her and she is refreshingly candid about that. With a career spanning over 30 years, M’Mukindia is a seasoned public and private sector executive and management consultant. Her self-description includes the terms passionate and energetic. “I love information; I love giving it, receiving it and connecting things.” The former student of Mt St Mary’s Molo and Limuru Girls’ School and her four brothers and one sister were city-dwellers in the 1960s. Their parents separated when she was seven, and they were left in the care of their father, who valued education and honesty.
She did not always have a vision or a mission. However, after dabbling in entrepreneurship, she went through a self-development programme that offered various courses aimed at self-renewal and fulfilling one’s purpose in life. She began working towards a plan and a mission. With her team, she was able to turn NOCK around to profitability. In 2007, she was conferred the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) award for her outstanding service to Kenya The multi-faceted roles she has held raise the question: how did she do it? Old- fashioned hard work, just like her father, who worked relentlessly, weekends included. During his 35-plus years of service at Kenya Railways, he rose from the
catering department and retired as a regional manager. Performance is what makes M’Mukindia tick. It gives her satisfaction to see businesses and people transformed. “When people say, ‘She’s so hard-working’, it’s a labour of love for her, “because I want to see change happen”.
M’Mukindia’s first foray into the oil and gas industry was courtesy of an exchange programme sponsored by AIESEC, the global university student leadership association, after her second year in university. With another Kenyan, she joined 40 students from all over the world in Istanbul, Turkey, for a three-month stint at Mobil. She enjoyed the summer programme so much that she was determined to go back after her studies. But her father would not hear of it and refused to pay for her travel back. M’Mukindia responded with an almighty sulk and refused to look for a job for nearly eight months after completing university. Eventually, she realised she wasn’t getting anywhere and started applying for jobs. She landed three opportunities: in the University of Nairobi’s Office of the Registrar; as a finance officer with the Agricultural Finance Corporation and as a planning analyst trainee with Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas corporate.
Choosing Exxon made her the company’s first Kenyan female analyst trainee. Prior to her appointment, the energy giant brought women from Texas, USA, to work as secretaries or data recorders in its Kenya office. Over 17 years, she climbed the corporate ladder, acquiring and honing skills through various responsibilities. From planning analyst, she moved on to retail co-ordinator, then supply plan economics manager. She also did a four-year stint in the UK office and eventually became general sales manager. Every position was a first for a Kenyan woman in Exxon Mobil. At 27 years, she was in charge of crude oil shipping and related tasks. In the mid 1980s, Exxon began focusing on developing its lubricants potential, which accounted for 5 per cent of the operating volume but brought in 20 per cent of the profits. “The blending plant in Mombasa reported to us. Costing (for lubricants) was pulled from sales and finance to us, so it became a little company on its own and we had to draw up a business plan. After almost two years, we turned it around,” she says.
In 1987, she moved to Exxon UK as a supply manager. On her return in 1991, she became general sales manager. The docket covered retail business, including service stations, consumer industrial accounts, factories, aviation and liquefied petroleum gas. Her vast experience at Exxon taught M’Mukindia many invaluable lessons. When she eventually joined National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK), she carried along the Exxon open-door policy that allowed staff the space needed to work effectively. Her management style includes giving workers a chance to speak up. How did she manage such great responsibilities? “I don’t know if I’m a great strategist, but I do know that I work hard.” And she doesn’t avoid making tough decisions. “Maybe that’s why they say I’m tough.” When she left Exxon, M’Mukindia opened Suppet Oil Trading, which included three service stations. The venture lasted barely 18 months. “I thought I would go out and be a big star, but I flopped. It started so well, but the next thing I knew, it was finished
and I was bankrupt. I paid Total (Oil and Gas Company) for three years.”
She learnt then that she had not mastered entrepreneurship. The experience dented her confidence and it wasn’t until she went through the self-development programme that she learnt it was the idea that failed, not her. During that period, she was also involved in creating the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA), the region’s first oil and gas professional body. The organisation’s mandate is ‘to provide a forum for expertise and excellence in the oil industry, promote professionalism and free enterprise in the petroleum business, supported by the highest operations and business standards’. As general manager, she cut her teeth in policy formulation as she lobbied for standards of excellence in the sector.
She spent close to four years pouring her energy into PIEA. Key successes during her tenure included creating the training development programme that preceded the School of Petroleum Studies. She later sat on task forces that evolved the Energy Act 2006, the Maritime Act and Kenya’s Integrated Transport Policy. Her PIEA experience also thrust her to the helm of NOCK in 2003. When she received a call saying the Government was considering her for the top post, her reaction was, “Who wants to go there?” As far as she was concerned, NOCK was a lazy, sleeping giant.
Words of Wisdom
“Don’t waste time trying to convince people to get on board. People buy in after success.”
“We all have something to give. Don’t wait for someone else to shine your light; put your light on the table and let it shine.”
“Save and invest. Forget about manicures and weaves. Buy a good shoe, but not too many… I spent so much time chasing the wrong things.”
“Nobody has arrived. There is always room to do something better.”
“You don’t create wealth by working at jobs but by adding value to something.”
The new post introduced Mary to the crafty world of politics, as she found herself caught in the crossfire of internal wrangles. No sooner had she received her appointment letter than she discovered that someone else was being appointed. Although she had wanted to finish with PIEA before moving to NOCK, Mary had to take up her new appointment immediately. It was a friend that pointed out that she would be accountable for anything happening at NOCK from the date of her appointment. “If they steal or sell the company, it’s your responsibility,” she was warned. And so despite the announcement of another managing director, she went on to call a press conference to clarify that she was in charge. It worked. At NOCK, M’Mukindia came to appreciate the value of people. “When you work for
a multinational, you take people for granted because they know their work. Wait until you get people who don’t know their job; then you will understand how important people are in helping you get things right.”
Trying to give NOCK financial footing and forestall its closure, the MD began experiencing the unpleasant side effects of over-work, such as stress and stints in hospital due to exhaustion. Realising she couldn’t change or convince everybody, she sought the board’s permission to ask staff to reapply for their jobs. “We managed to
hire fantastic people,” she says. During her tenure, NOCK’s offices were broken into. The thieves made off with
equipment, including computers. It was during this time that she decided to get serious about her relationship with God and even became a born-again Christian. A song, titled I Will Restore What the Enemy Has Stolen, became her anthem and encouragement. With her team, she was able to turn NOCK around to profitability. In 2007, she was conferred the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) award for her outstanding service to Kenya and also received the Big 5 Award for her contribution to African Petroleum and Excellence. In the same year, NOCK was ranked third out of 116 state corporations evaluated for performance.
After four years at NOCK, M’Mukindia quit to join the transport unit of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), a position she held until 2011. The position, covering the Middle East and Asia, broadened her policy development knowledge. And since leaving UNEP, she has served as a board member with the Kenya Revenue Authority, Unga Holdings, Jacaranda Holdings and Guaranty Trust Bank. The mother of two – Mwenda and Mukami – credits her domestic staff with enabling her to be her best wherever she was. She has had housekeepers who have been with her for years. “I would be nowhere without the support of my housekeeper and my driver.”
The single mother speaks about her children with obvious love and pride. She describes her son Mwenda as smart and responsible. “He drives better than me,” she says. Her daughter, Mukami, loves to dance and paint. “She has a good heart and loves peace. She gets affected when Mwenda and I fight.” Older, yes, and certainly wiser, she is satisfied with her life journey, warts and all. But she’s not done yet. “I think I still have so much to give. All of us have so much to give and I think we need to create the opportunity for ourselves to give it.”