Head of legal & secretarial services | Safaricom
Wangechi Gichuki
Head of legal & secretarial services | Safaricom
Legal team size: 11
Wangechi is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya of more than 18 years standing. She currently serves as the Head of Legal & Secretarial Services at Safaricom PLC. For 15 years and counting, Wangechi has found a home in the telecommunications industry having served in various capacities in the legal and regulatory departments of Airtel Networks Kenya Limited and Telkom Kenya Limited. Wangechi has also practiced at the firm of Ransley, McVicker & Shaw, Nyachae & Ashitiva Advocates and served at the State Law Office as a State Counsel honing her skills in litigation, commercial transactions and corporate law.
Her key achievements include:
– Partnership with Kenya Judiciary Academy on training of the judiciary on mobile technology,
– Financing arrangements for Safaricom subsidiaries of over USD. 100m,
– Re-setting of the Safaricom Channel Partner contract for 418 dealers for efficient partnering,
– Reduction of litigation through ADR, reduction of the cost of spectrum for telcos,
– Successful settlement of the largest and longest existing employment litigation, with an initial claim of approx. Kes. 7 B and settled at Kes. 1.85 B – Dec 2015.
– Successful completion of change of majority shareholding transaction in Telkom – July 2016.
– Successful extraction of the Orange brand in accordance with the Brand Extraction Protocol Agreement (BEPA) which unlocked USD. 1M for the company – June 2017.
In 2024, Wangechi was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Kenya in the Private Sector Legal Practitioners Category. In 2025, Wangechi was once again recognized among the Leading In-House Counsel in the Private Sector category by Nairobi Legal awards. Wangechi holds an LLB from the University of Nairobi and a diploma from the Kenya School of Law, is a certified secretary and a member of the Institute of Directors. She holds several professional qualifications as well. Currently, Wangechi is finalizing training with the NCIA to become a certified Arbitrator. In her spare time, Wangechi likes to keep fit by going to the gym and taking walks.
Have you had any experiences during your legal career that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?
Yes, when I started off in the telco industry, I joined Celtel Kenya (now Airtel Networks Kenya Limited) as a senior regulatory officer. I did not know anything about telecommunication other than to make phone calls. It was a whole new world of technology. I believed I made the wrong decision when my first assignment was to meet with the engineers and learn about the network in order to write a white paper. the acronyms were very daunting! Almost 15 years on, that was the best move I ever made, I have never looked back!
There was a long-standing litigation at one of my former engagements which I became very attached to. The legal battle was epic, and when we lost, I was so devastated that I could not pass near the subject matter of the litigation for more than 3 months. I felt the loss as if it was personal. When we geared up for the appeal, it was bring your A game or nothing at all. We bounced back stronger, harder and wiser and it paid off. we succeeded. Even after leaving the company, the legal team still updates me on the goings on with the matter (there were multiple cases) as they know I still have a stake in the game.
How are you bringing the legal department closer to your business colleagues?
My mission for the legal team this financial year 2025/2026 is to “Deploy strategic legal and risk mitigation in order to proactively align stakeholders to secure our social licence to operate”. My mission feeds into the larger mission of the Corporate Affairs Division, which we are part of. Our mission ensures that we are very close to the business at all times, especially where enterprise risk is at an all-time high. Some of the things that we are doing to bring the legal team closer to the business are.
The legal team has a very robust in the engagement with the wider organisation. We use the business partnering model to serve the various teams within the company. This creates experts amongst us in the various business lines. This model has also aided in having the legal teams embedded as part of teams where they always have a seat on the table even where the discussions do not necessarily centre on legal issues. This way, we continue to steadily achieve our desire to be business lawyers.
We also rolled out a robust legal academy where we offer training on various legal topics that are of interest to the business, e.g., data protection, IP, personal law (marriage, succession, managing your personal employees). we have noted that these trainings demystify a lot of assumptions that our colleagues have on the topics mentioned. the trainings have also elevated the profiles of the team members within the business.
The team also acts as a liaison between the business and various stakeholders, e.g., the judiciary, contracting partners, and others.
