Moses Kuria’s golf flex and the not-so-secret coffee addiction

Weekend with the CEO

Moses Kuria’s golf flex and the not-so-secret coffee addiction

Saturday August 05 2023

Moses Gikahu Kuria is the Chief Financial Officer at M-Tiba. PHOTO | POOL

At the time of booking the interview, Moses G Kuria was the managing director at CarePay, better known as M-Tiba.

By the time we sat down to Kibitz over lunch, he was M-Tiba’s fresh-off-the-boat new chief financial officer, looking like a part of the furniture already. I am not saying I am a lucky charm, but I would understand if you did.

He just turned 37. Listening to him speak you wonder if he’s ever been a human volcano erupting, or gone off the rails, or if he’s ever lost his cool.

“Rarely,” he says, in that thoughtful voice, with thoughtful syllables speaking from his thoughtful mind in a poignant voice that says this is just between us, a voice of someone confiding, not someone emoting.

His paucity is not poverty but pride. This explains his affectation for walking and golf, walking or golf, walking and sometimes golf.

It’s where he thinks. Were it not for his Mafiosi-boss suits, you would think he is a monk meditating on a mountain.

At the glassy Arbor Restaurant in Nairobi’s Lavington, we treat ourselves to some, doctor-just-this-once, fatty steaks while Kuria sips dawa and steps out on the true love of his life: coffee.

What was your nickname growing up?

On campus, they’d call me Mose or extrapolate from my middle name—Gikahu—which is heavy on the tongue. So, I’d be Gaks.

What’s the best part of being a young CEO?

You have an opportunity to create a legacy from very early on. You have time and people believing in you and leeway to do crazy things that are transformative.

People will give you more room, and root for you, just because people want to take chances on the young.

What’s the most boring part of being you?

Ah haha! I come off as a bit too serious, and I am very calm. I don’t have extremities. I also get a kick from doing stuff at work, and I am quite a reserved person.

But I like spending time reflecting and taking walks. On Saturdays I go to Karura [Forest] and walk, just to clear my mind. I find walking to be one of my happier times.

When did you pick up walking?

Probably eight years ago. Sometime after working at Deloitte. You’d be surprised as to how freeing having something like Karura to just walk in is.

Are you part of a walking group?

I do it alone or with my wife covering 10 or so kilometres. Last year, we started doing hikes, but after three or four hikes, someone quit. I am someone haha!

No judgements here at all.

I also golf which is likewise a reserved sport! If not then I am visiting my dad at a farm, or reading different stuff. Sometimes I’d just take long drives, which is how I spend most of my time.

What put you into golf? Networking?

Not quite. I just like the sport. I’d say I have underutilised it for networking. I am there to play.

What’s your handicap?

I am still yet to get one. But if I joined the tournaments, I’d rank myself as a 28.

Is it true that the smaller the ball the higher the social status?

Well, haha! It depends. There are also other things like motorsports, which are quite intriguing.

Tell me about your weekends.

Half the time I am travelling. I try to keep my weekends with family. Then Sunday we’d go to church and later catch up with some friends.

What’s the first thing you do in a new place when you travel?

I try to get a SIM card from that place and get onto the local network, so I can do more stuff. Later I’d walk around a bit to familiarise myself with the surrounding. So far, I have four SIM cards!

Airbnb or hotel?

Mostly hotel.

Would you consider yourself spontaneous or structured?

I am not spontaneous. I am very structured. I have been going through this evolution, and sometimes, especially in the last two years, things I have realised are always in flux, even if you structure them well.

I have a higher risk appetite now, and I am more tolerant of the flow, but I still like to maintain a defined field of play.

The heavy packer or just what’s necessary?

Light. I don’t carry many things.

What is one thing you never miss to carry?

The phone. And my earbuds. I am always listening to music and podcasts.

What song best summarises your weekend?

No particular song but my weekends are chill. Let me think. Hmmm. Maybe it will come to me haha!

What’s an unusual habit or absurd thing that you love?

I take quite a lot of coffee. I keep raising eyebrows on that one.

Put a number to it?

Six. Two in the morning, two in the afternoon, and two in the evening. This is a bad habit I picked up in my consulting days.

What’s the dumbest thing you’ve spent money on?

I bought a ka-thing for carting. But our house is not that big. I used it once and never used it again. It was what? Sh19,000. I also spend quite an amount on getting my car cleaned and fixing things.

What do you love most about the weekend?

I get to see my friends and siblings. That’s the only time we get to connect sometime. It is a bit of a paradox: I get more alone time at weekends than during the weekdays, which also helps me to recharge.

What is the last book you read and what did you take from it?

I am reading How Google Works by Erick Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenburg. On my nightstand is a book by Chriss Voss, Never Split the Difference.

What’s the most painful thing you’ve been told, Moses?

The most painful experience I have had is when my mom passed on. She was our biggest supporter and someone you could talk to.

In terms of general pain, I have learned to brush it off, as I have been very fortunate to have people who mentored me and called me out when I was stepping out of line.

This one time we went to a [government] meeting where the bosses sit in front and the rest of the aides are behind.

We all sat, all CEOs and whatnot but you know, someone asked me to go sit behind. I complied, only for them to find out later that I was also a CEO.

Just because you are young, people will not immediately associate you with a CEO, although it is less often nowadays.

Three years ago, I had a bout of PE (pulmonary embolism), with clots in my lung. I was in the hospital for a few weeks, and I got to read up on how severe it can be.

By God’s grace, I survived and that gave me a perspective of what is important, that life is fleeting and nothing is too serious. Control what you can, what you can’t move on.

What never fails to make you laugh?

Sitcoms. Especially Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Also just spending time with friends and having a laugh or two.

What time do you meet your friends? Late nights?

No! Mostly during the day haha!

Have you kept the same friends since before you were a CEO?

Well, I don’t have a wide circle of friends who I interact with regularly. These are my boys from way back on campus, and there are people who if I call right now, they will pick up.

We will meet. There are people I’d like to spend more time with but there just isn’t enough of it.

What’s something you long believed to be true but realised it isn’t?

Wrestling. It hurts me today! Also, we never thought that our parents would ever lack money, and when they did, we thought they were denying us. Now I know haha!

What’s a superstition you believe in?

Let’s just say I never look at things fiscally. I live my life without any drama, I am averse to any drama. But I have understood that people can blow up smoke and mirrors. I am always looking at what am I not seeing.

Do you have a secret talent?

Let me think. [proceeds to think for two minutes] Okay, I can, urm, I think I have a gift of reading between the lines. I can sort of see what happens with two bounces of the ball. I am rarely surprised.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

I like cappuccinos a lot. If I pass by and I see a café, and I see a coffee machine, I will immediately ask for one.

Even if we have just come from having dinner or something. I also buy a lot of things for my car, which I don’t even need. The things, not the car haha!

What do you wish you were better at?

Balancing time. I do things very intensely. Just disconnecting. I have never been able to. Even while on leave I still have things running at the back of my mind. I have always just wanted to write but I have never gotten to it.

What is one question you are hardly asked but you wish someone would?

I like it when people are forthright. For instance, everyone has been asked to contribute to a Harambee or two. You know people who are struggling with health, yet when it comes to getting health insurance it almost feels farfetched.

In general, health is a big challenge, and many people struggle with it. Health insurance hasn’t taken off, and I wish more people would reflect on it.

What is a weekend hack that can make my weekends better?

Go outside. If you start your weekends that way, you will always have a calm week. Or just chill.

Who do you know that I should know?

I have different people in my life like my wife and siblings. But there is a gentleman called Martin Oduor who has taught me a lot about the different stakeholders and figuring out what is important to people. You should also meet my gym coach haha!

Never! But is Gaks happy?

I am.

When did you know you were happy?

When this opportunity [CFO] was presented to me. To drive fundraising activities on a global scale. It’s a bigger ocean. I believe that if you bring value, and if you are no longer excited then there are always options and you can move. That’s why I joined M-Tiba, to put my name on an ecosystem—to leave a legacy.

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