Two things: That AGMs shouild be sombre and sharp affairs. Sombre indeed!

But where do you find such a scene in Africa, if not in a funeral, where people mourn? Is Africa (read Kenya) ready or ripe for such affair?

Of course, Safaricom is trail-blazing and thus offers a fertile ground for learning, serious discourse, which, if we liked since the telecoms firm talked, could have gone into probing the whole ‘jamboree affair’ that are the Kenyan AGMs.

Seriously, there are different types of shareholders, who, perhaps due to ignorance or sheer jokes, takes the goodies as the proof of his shareholding–not even the dividends.

I should think that as Safaricom has gone ahead to stir the Hornet’s nest by using the move to cut costs, it was also time to think about something else.

For the benefit of the shareholding, other publics, students and the government, companies should introduce the practice of inviting questions to the directors months before the AGM.

These are questions that will be sent by the serious constituencies to benefit all. It will be the responsibility of the directors to choose key concerns from the engagements and address them alongside the not-so-serious stuff by those who troop into towns for the T-shirts and and other freebies.

This thing of company meetings is so serious and the discussion should continue to also wake up the directors and ‘surprise’ other investors to wean them off the T-shirt culture.

ENDS