Guaranty Trust Bank (Kenya) Limited has appointed Ann Njogu as Chairperson of its Board of Directors, Irene Irungu as Acting Managing Director and Esther Kihara as Head of Legal and Company Secretary. The Central Bank of Kenya approved all three. Irungu took office as Acting Managing Director on 29 October 2026. Kihara’s appointment took effect on 8 October 2026.
The changes follow the July announcement that Managing Director Jubril Adeniji would leave once his tenure ended, after the parent company in Nigeria recalled him. Adeniji joined the group in 2006 and led GTBank Tanzania from its 2016 launch before his nomination to the Kenya role in July 2022, according to the bank’s website.
Njogu brings legal and reform experience to the chair
Njogu is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a company director. The Board puts her experience at more than 30 years across corporate legal practice, regulatory and public policy engagement, and board level governance in financial services, insurance and the non profit sector. The Board said her appointment reinforces the bank’s commitment to corporate governance. Under her leadership, it will guide the bank on deepening credit access, expanding digital banking capabilities and delivering financial solutions that create value for stakeholders.
The bank’s website profile of its director Ann adds detail. It lists more than 33 years of practice since admission, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi and an MBA from Strathmore Business School. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and holds a CPS(K) from the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya.
She served as Kenyan Ambassador of the Africa UNITE Campaign on ending violence against women and girls. She received the 2010 International Woman of Courage Award from the US State Department and is a Senior Ashoka Fellow. She was a delegate to the Bomas National Constitutional Conference and co chaired the Multi Sectoral Committee on Constitutional Reform and the Joint Dialogue Forum on Constitutional Reform. The same page lists Hanish Chandaria and Elizabeth Kyengo among the directors.
Irungu steps up from risk, compliance and operations
Irungu became Head of Operations on 7 October 2026, three weeks before the managing director appointment. The Board statement credits her with more than 13 years in financial services across banking operations, enterprise risk management and compliance. She holds a degree in Finance and is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist. She is completing an MBA in Strategic Management at Kenyatta University.
“As we look ahead, we remain committed to working together under her leadership to advance our shared vision, strengthen the GTBank brand and create greater value for our customers and stakeholders,” the Board said.
Irungu joined GTBank Kenya in May 2023 as Head of Risk and Compliance, according to the bank’s website. Her LinkedIn profile adds that she also served as Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Data Protection Officer. In that role she oversaw enterprise risk management and led the financial crime function covering anti money laundering, counter terror financing, counter proliferation financing and fraud. She worked as Operations Risk and Compliance Officer at Stima Sacco Society from December 2017 to April 2023. She began as an Operations Officer at Imperial Bank in August 2014.
Kihara takes the legal and governance desk
Kihara completes the group of three. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Certified Secretary, and she had held the Head of Legal and Company Secretary role in an acting capacity. She will oversee the bank’s legal affairs and support corporate governance and regulatory compliance. That brief sits beside Njogu’s governance mandate at the Board and Irungu’s risk and compliance background in management.
Kihara’s profile shows she joined GTBank Kenya as Legal Officer in July 2023 and moved into the acting role in November 2023. She worked at Muchoki Kang’ata Njenga Advocates before that. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi and a postgraduate diploma from the Kenya School of Law.
Profit holds while total assets shrink
The new leadership inherits a bank that has stayed profitable.
GTBank Kenya has posted a profit in each of the last five years, according to Central Bank of Kenya disclosures and annual reports cited in Khusoko’s earlier coverage. The bank earned KSh396.5 million after tax in 2025. First quarter profit in 2026 fell 38.3 percent, while asset quality improved.
| Metric | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Profit before tax | KSh573 million | Full year 2025 |
| Profit after tax | KSh396.5 million | Full year 2025 |
| Profit after tax | KSh80.5 million, down 38.3% from KSh130.3 million | Q1 2026 |
| Gross non performing loans | KSh1.02 billion, against KSh2.72 billion a year earlier | March 2026 |
| Customer deposits | KSh19.27 billion, up 8.2% | March 2026 |
| Net loans | KSh2.92 billion, up 12.3% | March 2026 |
| Total assets | KSh31.34 billion, down 8.7% | March 2026 |
| Profit after tax | ₦7.63 billion | Nine months to September 2026 |
The nine month figure comes from Guaranty Trust Holding Company’s subsidiary disclosures. They show the Tanzanian unit with a loss of ₦434.19 million over the same period.
Outlook: credit growth, digital reach and a compliance workload
Net loans equal about 15 percent of customer deposits, which shows the room the bank has to deepen credit access. Earnings fell at the start of 2026 and total assets contracted. Non performing loans dropped by more than half.
The bank has relied on corporate clients and a narrow set of retail products to hold costs. It has also expanded agent banking through post offices under its GTExpress programme, with a second phase that takes the network from 46 outlets to 100.
The parent group faces thinner margins and closer regulatory attention across its African units, as Khusoko noted in its July report. The mix of a governance lawyer in the chair, a risk and financial crime specialist in the managing director’s office and a Certified Secretary at the legal desk lines up with that pressure. The parent set out plans for further Kenyan expansion through acquisition in 2021, as Khusoko covered.
The statement uses the title Acting Managing Director and does not say when a substantive appointment follows. Board changes continue across Kenyan lenders. Ecobank Kenya appointed Risper Alaro as Non Executive Director this week.
