GA Insurance: Describe yourself in 5 words or less.

Passionate, Attention to detail, honest – too honest.

GA Insurance: Tell our readers about who you are and what you do.

My name is Wacuka Kamoni. I head the Internal Audit Department at GA Insurance.

GA Insurance: Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? How was the culture where you grew up and how did it impact your education and career? Were you necessarily encouraged to pursue the same – did family support?

I grew up in Eastlands in Nairobi. Eastlands is just, well Eastlands. Close-knit neighborhoods and always buzzing with activity. Eastlands is the heartbeat of Nairobi and this is where I grew up, speaking sheng and waiting for the hottest matatu when going to college. My parents were strict when it came to education – my father always said, “ I don’t have large acres of land to subdivide amongst the 4 of you but I will do my best to educate you because that’s the only inheritance can give you”. And so, I excelled in academics from when I was very young in Primary School. I really wanted to be a doctor but clearly, things turned out very differently when I didn’t make the cut for Medical School by one point.

GA Insurance: What University did you go to? What was it like and what did you study?

I went to The University of Nairobi and studied Bachelor of Commerce, Finance Option. My 4 years at the University were the best. Finally, there was no parent hovering over my shoulder but nonetheless, with so much freedom, I still ended up spending so much time in the library reading that I even had a spot on the upper floor of the library.

GA Insurance: Tell our readers about your first job before and after university. Where did you start your career?

My first real job was at Standard Chartered Bank as back-office support in the Trade Services Department. My work was clerical and involved putting together import and export documentation for key clients at SCB.

GA Insurance: What are your greatest takeaways from working for Standard Chartered Bank? 

My greatest take away from this and which has stayed with me and helped me to excel is always put in your best no matter what level you are at in the organization and then think about your next level and work like you are already at that level.

GA Insurance: How did your career in Audit begin?

While working at Standard Chartered Bank, Deloitte & Touché announced the recruitment of an auditor at entry level position, and I put in my application. I was called for the interviews and after 4 levels of interviews, I got the call that I had gotten the job as Audit assistant 3. To say I was elated is an understatement. That was my second attempt at joining the firm – one of the big 4. Just to encourage someone out there, don’t give up. Keep on trying for that dream.

And so began my journey as an Auditor – In External Audit, then Internal Audit.

I left Deloitte after 4 years and took up my first role in Internal Audit at Jubilee Insurance Company where I stayed for almost 6 years and rose to the position of Senior Internal Auditor.

GA Insurance: Tell us more about your career, before joining GA Insurance

Being an external auditor was the best and most valuable experience, as it exposed me to all kinds of organizations in different industries – Banking, Insurance, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Saccos, Pension Schemes, etc. This became the building block to my career as an auditor, more so an internal Auditor as I got an in-depth and first-hand understanding of how organizations operate and especially how poor management decisions and lack of controls can affect a Company’s performance and the negative impact these have on its long-term survival.

GA Insurance: How did you end up at GA Insurance and how long have you been here?

GA was looking for an Internal Audit Manager, I sent my CV and was called for an interview. One month later I got a call to come for further negotiations on the role and that is how I was appointed as the Internal Audit Manager. This was back in 2015.

GA Insurance: When did you know that insurance was a passion of yours? What steps did you take to pursue it? What really helped you get your foot in the door?

Interesting question. When I joined Deloitte, one of my first assignments was as part of the team auditing Lion of Kenya as it was called back then and thereafter, I found myself on insurance company audit engagements. This gave me invaluable exposure into the operations of insurance companies including up-to the reporting stage as an Audit Senior. It was therefore natural that my next career move was into Insurance as I easily understood the intricate workings of an Insurance Company.

I chose to pursue internal audit rather than finance perhaps because the first opportunity that opened up was in internal audit. I had always thought I would transit into finance like most of my peers but it was not to be. Nevertheless, I have grown passionate about this role over the years and I believe it also gels with my personality.

GA Insurance: What are some things that you do or strategies that you use to constantly push yourself to the next level? How do you continuously set yourself up for success as you continue to grow?

I keep abreast with developments in my profession through the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Professional forums and workshops inorder to challenge myself and grow in the profession.

I believe that first impressions matter. In internal Audit, the first interaction for stakeholders is the audit report before they engage me in person. Therefore, I strive for excellence in my work and reports.

GA Insurance: How do you approach setting and executing goals? Walk us through that process

For my work, I set work goals on a quarterly basis to ensure I meet my deliverables to the Board.

Professionally, since the world is changing and new challenges/regulations etc are always coming up, I strive to remain connected to professional bodies that govern audit and accounting to remain well informed and to know when and where to upskill.

Personally, like everyone else I set goals at the beginning of the year. Some, I achieve others I reset for next year but that is on a lighter note. What is key, when I need to achieve something, I write down the goal/target and then I break it down to small achievable goals so that I am able to measure progress.

GA Insurance: What is your Leadership Style, and has it evolved over the years?

As a young external auditor, I got to experience and observe many leadership styles in many audit engagements. Some were great, others not so much. My learning from all these experiences is that a leader needs to be versatile and adopt to each unique situation rather than adopt a rigid leadership style that may end up stifling team members especially where the environment changes rapidly or creative out of the box thinking is required.

I therefore read the situation first then I decide how to lead. In some situations, I will lead from the front – where I give direction and instructions. In others, I will lead from the back where I just guide the individual members on how to accomplish the tasks and allow them to take the lead on their individual assignments.

GA Insurance: In your capacity, you have interviewed countless people in your career, what qualities do you look out for during interviews?

Analytical minds, attention to detail, inquisitive minds, great interpersonal skills, negotiating and problem-solving skills.

These are the key ingredients that make a great internal auditor.

GA Insurance: What are your biggest sources of motivation?

Knowing that I am in a position that gives me the opportunity to make a positive change in the organization.

GA Insurance: What are some of the highlights in your 15+ Audit career?

Seeing the shift in management thinking where the Internal Audit is seen as a valuable business partner rather than the bad cop.

Across the globe internal auditors are now getting a seat at the table with business leaders and they are giving invaluable insights to strategies and wealth preservation by highlighting risks that may prevent orgs from achieving their objectives.

Internal Audit has now been recognized as being critical to an organization achieving its targets as opposed to before where internal auditors were expected to merely validate transactions.

GA Insurance: During this journey of growing into the phenomenal woman you are today, what would you say has been the most challenging aspect and what did you learn from it?

I have encountered the imposter Syndrome especially when I was first promoted to Internal Audit Manager position that required presentation of audit report to the BAC. Boards are composed of highly achieved individuals and can be intimidating especially when you are interacting with the Directors for the first time.

I overcame this feeling by constantly reminding myself that I had gotten here by merit and I was capable of the task.

GA Insurance: In your career, are there moments where you ever found that your personal values conflicted with your client goals? 

Not in GA, but I have had experiences where the person in charge watered down significant observations under pressure from the auditee. I didn’t like it since the risk was inadequately reported and when it crystallized, there was always the question of where was the internal audit?

GA Insurance: Do you have values that you abide by? Values that are irreducible minimums, for you?

Honesty, Integrity, Due diligence in fulfilling my mandate as an internal auditor. I ensure that my conclusions are supported by facts based on work done which must be sufficient.

GA Insurance: What’s it like maintaining a successful an Internal Audit function and client satisfaction, while keeping your personal happiness above ground?

For all audits, I ensure that the audit client is aware of the audit scope and observations and we give them an opportunity to respond and produce supporting evidence where they are of a contrary opinion. All observations are agreed upon with management as being the correct state of the control environment at time of audit and a corrective action plan agreed upon.

Audit exit meetings can get very heated but I always strive to seek out the individuals and assure them that its for the good of the Company and the Business Units they manage as well as themselves as the Managers.

GA Insurance: Can you share one personal and one professional goal for the year?

Personal – To lose 10kgs (this is the goal I reset every year).

Professional – To get to a level where I can also train/instruct internal auditors in workshops conducted by the IIA.

GA Insurance: These critical and unprecedented times really shifted how we work and think. Physical meetings have come to a halt. Many operations have gone virtual. What are some things you are doing at the company and at a personal level to adapt to this new way of living?

Audit involves examination of documents, interviewing people, observation e.t.c inorder to gather sufficient evidence to draw a factual conclusion on the control environment. The pandemic therefore threw the entire audit profession across the globe into a spin and auditors had to think outside the box to ensure they continue giving assurance to stakeholders on risk management and controls.

The Internal Audit department at GA has learnt to become agile and embrace technology inorder to adopt to the new way of working even though this has been challenging as many processes were and are still very manual. However, we have managed to make technology work for us where processes are automated. We incorporated online meetings with auditees, SharePoint e.t.c as part of the audit process.

GA Insurance: What are some tips that you have for other women, whether in their careers or businesses, regardless of their field for adapting to this new world that we’re in? 

Strive for excellence. Believe in yourself and that you are capable. Evaluate your worth and put a value on it because no-one will ever value you higher that you value yourself. Do not settle for less than your value.

GA Insurance: At GA Insurance we focus and celebrate ambitious women. In your opinion, what makes an ambitious woman?

One who does not settle in a comfort zone but seeks to better herself, to challenge traditional limits on women. Break that glass ceiling.

GA Insurance: How often do you say no and what has been your journey to saying it unapologetically?

Ha ha ha. An auditor, every auditor has to say no very many times in their careers to auditees when it comes to audit reporting.

When the situation cannot be reported in any other way (res ipsor loqiutur), I just say no and close the argument. In other situations, I explain why my answer is no and support this with facts.

GA Insurance: Have you experienced rejection in your audit recommendations etc? How do you handle it and what’s your advice for young, upcoming women who want to be like you

Yes, I have, and I have noted that people resist because sometimes they want the status quo to remain, or they don’t want to leave their comfort zones because a new control or new way of doing things may mean loss of control or authority which might or might not be the case.

My philosophy on these kinds of situations is that change is difficult for many people therefore I put in my best pitch for audit recommendations and where I fail to convince my audience, I go back to the drawing board to redraft or accept I can pitch my recommendation another day.

GA Insurance: What are you most proud of about yourself both personally and professionally? (highlights)

• The fact that my professional opinion on risk management and controls is taken seriously by the stakeholders.
• Being able to make a change in how the organization sees Audit and why it is important to ensure controls are in place and are enforced.

GA Insurance: Who are your role models, professionally or personally, and why?

I look up to the women in this profession especially my former colleagues at Deloitte. As a young auditor, I was inspired to see these young women in their early thirties take up very senior audit and finance roles in blue chip corporates and even in multi-nationals. I always saw myself in one of these roles.

GA Insurance: Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently with regards to career?

There is a role that I feel I stayed for too long and that is, a senior internal auditor because I had just settled down into marriage. This is the one time I have wished I was a man (on a light note).

GA Insurance: What are some things that you wish that you would have known as a young woman? (Dear Younger Me) …… What do you wish someone told you in your early 20s?

Own your career progression. Do your best and map out your journey. Don’t focus too much on the achievements of your peers especially the outliers. Set your own goals and keep on challenging yourself. Constantly ask yourself – where am I going to be in the next 2 or 3 or 5 years?

GA Insurance: What words do you live by? Any advice for other women pursuing their dreams?

Pursue excellence, Remain consistent, Shun mediocrity

GA Insurance: We know that the world is trying to be more inclusive, giving women equal opportunities as men. But as someone who is actually in the game, do you think that it’s really happening as far as inclusivity or they’re just doing it for show?

This is progressive and it’s a journey. The fact that there is a law – the one third gender rule-enforcing inclusivity means that we are not there yet, but great strides have been made.

GA Insurance: We live in a society where there is a notion that success is achieved after a compilation of minimal sleep, absence of a personal life, and accepting disrespect until we are in power. As you grew throughout your career how did you navigate those expectations and did you find yourself complying to them in order to advance in your career?

When I was younger, I thought long working hours and working weekends translated to success and so I put in the hours and it was not so strange given that I was an external auditor. But I noted at the same time there were colleagues who never seemed stressed, did not work extra long hours but they still gave excellent results. This was until someone made a statement that has always stuck with me – You don’t always have to worker harder or longer, just work smarter.

I apply the Eisenhower decision matrix in everyday situations to define Urgent/Important/Not urgent/Not important tasks and act accordingly to minimize stress and manage other people’s expectations.

GA Insurance: Some moms are doing it all: working, going to school, raising children alone and trying to maintain their own mental health. How is it balancing your career with being a mother? 

Be realistic – you are a career woman. Do what you can, delegate what you can’t to reliable people. Have a reliable house Manager, treat her well and sharpen your management skills because you will be managing her to help you organize your household.

Nevertheless, always remember that whatever approach you take; at the end of the day, the running of your household is still your responsibility.

GA Insurance: As a manager and mom, how do you ensure you take care of your mental health and avoid having a burn out so that you are productive in all aspects of life?

I enjoy hanging out with my children. Listening to how their day was and the activities they are involved in at school plus Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) is something else. We have not had a dull moment since the new curriculum was rolled out. It’s also just hilarious how a 5-year-old will synthesize information at their level. The simplicity of how they interpret difficult situations always makes it seem less serious than it is.

GA Insurance: What is one book that has greatly inspired your work and goals?

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. He challenges the misconceptions we have always had on successful people. I would recommend it especially for those that are raising the next generation.

GA Insurance: We’re all about encouraging millennial women, helping them bridge the gap between ambition and achievement. What’s a quote that motivates you day in and day out?

Patience and put in the hard work.

GA Insurance: For people looking at your life and all that you’ve accomplished, what motto or words of affirmation get you through even on your worst days?

I am where I am on merit. I have what it takes to get the job done.

GA Insurance: Fill in the blank. I am Wacuka Kamoni and you may not know that I don’t like cooking but will gladly do the dishes.

GA Insurance: How do you unwind?

A walk or jog in Karura forest. I always feel like I have left the city and it’s stresses behind for the 1 or 2 hours I spend there.

GA Insurance: What’s next on the horizon for you?

Mentor and Coach the next generation of internal auditors.