Safaricom founder chief executive Michael Joseph has dismissed speculation that he was forced out of the telco’s board, claiming he resigned out of his own free will.

A statement sent to the media said Joseph resigned on Tuesday as Sa-faricom board director, with the departure taking effect from August 1.

Joseph (pictured) has served at the telco in various executive and board roles for the last 23 years and chairs the board of Safaricom Ethiopia.

His resignation comes at a time when there have been multiple changes at Safaricom’s board leading to speculation that he was pushed out, even as he said in his latest interview with a local media house that he is not the kind of person that likes to take direction or wait for guidance.

“I am not the kind of person that likes to take direction or waits for guid-ance and as a director, I feel a little restrained,” he said.

Others who have exited the board include John Ngumi as chairman re-placed by Adil Khawaja, and the appointment of Ory Okolloh and Karen Kandie to the board.

Describing himself as a CEO type of person as opposed to a board mate-rial, the 77-year-old said he believed he could do more off the board than on it. Joseph said that President William Ruto, Khawaja, and CEO Peter Ndegwa asked him to stay on but he chose to leave. “I was definitely not forced out, that is for sure. It was my own choice and the chairman, the CEO, other board members and the government want-ed me to stay longer for sure. I notified the President out of courtesy,” he told a local daily.

Noting that there was never a good time for him to leave the company, especially considering his involvement from the start, Joseph said his exit-ing the Safaricom board will give him more time to concentrate on his other roles in Ethiopia.

Safaricom is part of a global consortium that was awarded a license to roll out telecommunication and mobile money services in Ethiopia.

“The timing of it right because I am quite heavily involved in Safaricom Ethiopia and I am still chairman of the three Ethiopia companies (the Holding Company, Voda Family Company, and the Safaricom Ethiopia Company,” he said. “I am also an advisor to the CEO of Ethiopia and that takes a lot of my time. Being off the main board gives me a little more time to concentrate on Ethiopia,” Joseph added.

Since he stepped down as a chairman, paving way for John Ngumi who replaced his as chairman, Joseph has been serving as a director nomi-nated by Vodacom.

Hence, the new director to replace him at the Safaricom board will be nominated by Vodacom.