Influence Of Boards In Promoting Corporate Governance Practices In State Owned Enterprises: The Case Of Uchumi Supermarkets

In the face of major scandals leading to the collapse of large corporations, especially State owned ones, with disastrous social and economic consequences, the need for good corporate governance practices is increasingly taking center stage. The significance of good corporate governance hit world headlines in 2002, when major corporate failures occurred in United States (U.S). In Kenya, the question of corporate governance came up in 1990s in the advent of similar corporate scandals and misdemeanors that saw the collapse of companies and parastatals among them, National Housing Corporation, Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) and the Kenya National Assurance Often the influence of the Board and its significance is questioned.  However when things go wrong in organizations, then attention shifts to them. Lately they have come under increasing scrutiny, both in the wake of a number of serious corporate frauds and failures. Considerable literature has been developed to describe how the Boards can better discharge their directorial responsibilities,  however, most research on boards mainly centers on the question “what is the role of the Board?” and “the interaction between board composition and performance. Research on influence of boards in promoting corporate governance practices in State owned enterprises is however surprisingly thin.