The death of Rosemary Koech Kimwatu has raised serious questions about workplace culture at KCB Group, particularly over allegations involving her immediate supervisor, Group Chief Risk Officer Faith Basiye.
The allegations are grave and require proper investigation rather than silence, speculation or an internal process designed to protect senior officials.
Rosemary was a highly experienced professional who had built a career around data protection, technology, law and public policy.
She joined KCB in June 2022 as Data Protection Officer and was later promoted to Head of Data Protection. Her professional background included work at KICTANet and involvement in the Data Privacy and Governance Society of Kenya.
She was also recognised within the industry for her expertise in data protection and privacy.
By August 2026, Rosemary was dead after being found at her home in Ngong. Accounts circulating among colleagues and people familiar with her situation have raised allegations of prolonged workplace pressure and harassment.
These accounts should not automatically be treated as established facts, but they are too serious to be brushed aside, especially where they point to complaints that may have been made before her death.
One of the most serious allegations places Faith Basiye at the centre of the dispute. A message circulated on social media claimed that Rosemary had raised concerns with KCB’s Human Resources department and senior management over how she was being treated.
The same account alleged that she had also complained about the effect the situation was having on her mental wellbeing.
If those complaints were formally lodged, the most important question is not whether KCB can issue a statement expressing sadness over Rosemary’s death. The question is what the institution did after receiving the complaints.Were they investigated? Were witnesses interviewed?
Was Rosemary protected from further pressure while her concerns were being reviewed?
Was the conduct of her supervisor examined? Did senior management receive warnings and, if so, what action followed?
Those questions matter because Basiye was not an ordinary supervisor. She is a senior executive who became KCB Group Chief Risk Officer in July 2024 after years in forensic services and risk-related roles.
Her professional background includes experience at KCB, Safaricom, KPMG and the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission. She has also received professional recognition during her career.
That record makes the allegations even more significant. A risk officer is expected to identify threats before they become crises. Workplace culture, employee welfare, leadership conduct and failures in internal reporting are all risks that a major financial institution cannot afford to ignore.
The allegations from Rosemary’s former colleagues describe a workplace relationship marked by what they considered excessive demands, repeated criticism and conduct that left her feeling professionally undermined.
Those claims require evidence and should be tested through an independent investigation. But dismissing them simply because they concern a powerful executive would be an equally serious failure.
The bigger issue is therefore not only Faith Basiye. It is the system around her.If an employee can raise concerns with HR and senior management and still remain exposed to the same alleged treatment, then the problem goes beyond one manager.
It raises questions about whether internal reporting structures actually protect employees or merely give institutions the appearance of accountability.
KCB must therefore face difficult questions about what happened before Rosemary’s death. Her family deserves answers. Her colleagues deserve answers.
The public also deserves to know whether the bank’s systems worked when an employee reportedly needed them most.
Any investigation should examine the complaints attributed to Rosemary, the response from HR, the actions of senior executives and the conduct alleged against Basiye.
It should also establish whether similar complaints have previously been raised and how they were handled.
This is not about declaring Basiye responsible for Rosemary’s death without evidence.
It is about refusing to allow a senior executive’s position to become a shield against legitimate scrutiny.
Rosemary was a mother of four and a respected professional with years of expertise behind her. Her death has left a family grieving and an institution facing uncomfortable questions. KCB cannot answer those questions with condolences alone.
If the bank genuinely believes its systems protected Rosemary and responded appropriately to every complaint, an independent investigation should make that clear.
If the systems failed her, those failures must be exposed and corrected.
The most troubling outcome would be for Rosemary’s death to become another corporate tragedy followed by carefully worded statements, internal silence and a return to business as usual.
The allegations surrounding Faith Basiye and the wider KCB leadership must be tested openly and fairly.
Until that happens, questions about what Rosemary experienced, who knew about it and why nothing appears to have stopped the alleged deterioration will remain unanswered.
