Wilfred Murungi was the chairman and Managing Director of Mastermind Tobacco (k) Ltd. This company produced Super Match cigarettes.
He died in June 2019 and was survived by his four children: Erick Mugambi, Angela Muthoni, Allan Murungi and Audrey Wanja. At the time of his death he was 75 years old. His burial is alleged to have been attended by 20 close family members only. His burial took only one hour after which his children boarded their chopper and left the village.
He worked at the East Africa Power and Lighting Company. Later he joined British America Tobacco (BAT) where he worked as a Technical Director for over 10 years. Finally, he established his own company Mastermind Tobacco Ltd in 1985. He sold cigarettes from his old Land Rover in Zaire (now DRC).
His cigarette brand Supermatch was launched in 1989. Which was the cheapest cigarette brand in Kenya. He later launched Rocket to target rural forks and low income earners. By 2002, Mastermind Tobacco Ltd was the second largest cigarette manufacturer in Kenya after BAT.
Murungi studied at Alliance for his A-levels. At college he studied electric engineering.
He was also the founder of Key Microfinance Bank Ltd. He was a board member of various companies such as ARM Cement, Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS).
According to his childhood friends, the billionaire started as a humble salesman who drove around selling cigarettes and was paid in dollars.
Murungi invested heavily in agriculture. For instance, he invested on hundreds of acres where he produced barley and wheat.
Alfred Murungi was a very private person. He rarely interacted with people from his Mugutuni village. Very few villagers saw the cigarettes tycoon or his four children. He was always based in Nairobi but he sent his representatives to events in the villages where he had investments.
Despite his reclusive lifestyle, he provided scholarships to bright students from his village and sat on boards of various academic institutions. Murungi bought a school bus for Kiurani Secondary School near his home area. He also constructed a multi-purpose hall which is named after him. He was among the people who laid the foundation stone of Chuka University in Meru County.
He was very generous and used to delegate duties to others. He employed many youth from his home village.
Mastermind Tobacco Limited had operations in eight African countries and they were involved in growing tobacco and manufacturing of cigarettes.
Sources
Standard Media
