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Gideon Muriuki isn’t backing down on his bet on Co-operative Bank of Kenya. The CEO has just snapped up 12 million more shares of the lender for KSh202.8 million, or about $1.57 million at current exchange rates, edging his stake up to 2.2% from 2%.
The purchase, disclosed in a regulatory filing, makes Muriuki an even bigger presence in the bank’s ownership table. At a share price of KSh17, his total holding now stands at roughly 13.2 million shares, keeping him firmly in place as Co-op Bank’s largest individual shareholder.
This isn’t the first time the 63-year-old executive has doubled down on his employer. Over his two-decade tenure, he’s weathered banking crises and a pandemic, guiding Co-op into the ranks of Kenya’s top lenders by assets. The bank now serves millions through a network of more than 180 branches.
“Muriuki putting more of his own capital on the line shows strong conviction in Co-op’s fundamentals,” said Grace Mwangi, an analyst at Nairobi-based Kestrel Capital. “It’s rare to see this level of alignment between management and shareholders in Kenya’s banking sector.”
The timing is notable. Kenya’s banking landscape is shifting fast as fintechs nibble at traditional lenders’ market share. Meanwhile, economic headwinds have started to bite, raising funding costs and slowing loan growth. Even so, Co-op posted a 20% rise in pre-tax profit in the second quarter, thanks largely to gains in SME lending and digital services.
For investors, Muriuki’s latest move may signal confidence in Co-op’s ability to hold its ground—and grow—even as competition intensifies.
The purchase is understood to have been funded from his personal reserves, not debt. While small in percentage terms, the added stake reinforces his influence in strategy and governance at a time when investor scrutiny is rising.
