His predecessor Michael Joseph’s term ended on October 31, while Collymore officially took over on 1st November.
Joseph is credited with building the firm from under 16 000 subscribers in 2000 to more than 16 million currently.
Speaking to the media at a promotional event dubbed Masonko na Safaricom, Collymore said he was confident and ready for the task.
Setting his agenda, the soft-spoken CEO said customer satisfaction would be his top priority.
“We recognise that we have some challenges on the network quality and customer care. This will be my short and medium term focus,” he said.
On the ongoing price war in Kenya which has seen rates nosedive for both local and international calls, Collymore said he would not be drawn into it, adding that the price wars were not part of his priority.
“I have a bigger role, which is to add value to the shareholders and engaging in price wars will not deliver that. We shall continue to invest and roll out more innovations that add value,” he said.
“We are definitely going to maintain the same pace that was set by Michael, but the tone will be different,” he added.
Collymore comes at a time when the mobile industry in Kenya is undergoing realignment in voice charges, and the firm has in recent months been forced to grapple with increasingly aggressive competition.
Zain Kenya fired the first salvo when it lowered its call charges as part of a strategy by its new Indian owners, Bharti Airtel, to capture a greater chunk of the market.
