In the wake of the death of its Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore on Monday, Kenya telecommunications giant Safaricom has appointed it’s former boss Michael Joseph to lead in an interim.

In a special meeting of the directors held on Monday, the board agreed that Mr Joseph would take over with immediate effect.

"Mr Joseph will hold this position until the board communicates in due course, on a permanent appointment," Safaricom said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Joseph sits on the Safaricom board and is also the current chairman of Kenya Airways.

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore succumbed to cancer yesterday morning. He took over from Mr Joseph in November 2010.

Mr Joseph retired from Safaricom in 2010 after overseeing the telecom's growth from a scrappy mobile operator to a market leader.

He is also credited as one of the founders of Mobile Money giant Mpesa.