Michael Itote is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (FCPAK), a Member of the Institute of Directors (Kenya), Institute of Internal Auditors, and Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK).  He has also undergone the Induction on the Mwongozo Code of Governance for State Corporations organised by the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC).  Michael has also successfully completed the Governance Auditors Accreditation Course.

Michael was the Founding Chair of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants Audit, Risk & Governance Committee.  He also chaired the Institute’s Finance & Administration Committee and was a member of ICPAK’s Practice Review Task force, which developed the Audit Quality Review (AQR) program that is currently being used to assess/enhance the quality of the statutory audit process by evaluating the work practices of CPA Firms offering assurance services in Kenya.  He was elected Chairman of ICPAK in June 2009, and re-elected for a second and final term, which ended in May 2011. 

 Michael was also a member of the Board of Trustees of KCA University until May 2011 and was, until Nov 08, a Member of the University’s Governing Council and Chair of the Audit, Risk & Governance Committee. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of KASNEB (the Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examinations Board) and Chair of KASNEB’s Audit Risk & Governance Committee until May 2013.

 Michael’s working experience has involved the following:

• Founded Management Audit Consulting Limited (MACL) and the audit and assurance services firm of Maina Itote and Associates (later renamed Maina Itote and Kimathi), Certified Public Accountants - Kenya.
• Provision of consulting services to Deloitte Consulting as an Associate Director in the Firm’s Enterprise Risk Services (ERS) Department.
• Group Internal Auditor of Lonrho Africa Plc. He headed a team of 16 internal auditors, all of whom were qualified accountants, which performed reviews of the operational and financial controls, business risk reviews and reviews of the propriety of management accounts and other management information, for Lonrho Africa’s more than 70 operating companies spread across operations in 14 sub-Saharan African countries.
  Group Financial Controller of Lonrho Africa Plc.
• Setting up of the internal audit function of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) while on secondment from Lonrho East Africa Ltd.
• Manager in Charge of Deloitte & Touché’s Quality Control Programme, which ensured that the firm’s methodologies and procedures were consistent with the Global Firm’s standards.
   

Timothy has over 25 years working experience both in the profession and in industry.  He has extensive hands-on experience in internal auditing, risk management and other corporate governance support services.  He is a director of Management Audit Consulting Limited (MACL) and a Partner of the associated audit and assurance services firm Maina Itote and Kimathi, Certified Public Accountants - Kenya.

Timothy is a Certified External Quality Assessor, accredited by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA- Inc.)  and member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK)

 He worked as an Audit Manager with Deloitte & Touché, a leading provider of audit, tax, consulting, and advisory services to clients around the world, from June 01 to October 03.  He managed statutory audits and special audits of a wide range of clients.

Prior to joining Deloitte & Touché, Timothy was the Deputy Group Internal Auditor of Lonrho Africa Plc, a large multinational which was quoted in both the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges.  At its peak, Lonrho Africa operated in 14 sub-Saharan African countries, with approximately 70 operating companies involved in a wide range of business activities, namely:

• Agri-business (large scale forestry operations, mixed farming, cotton, sugar and tea plantations) in South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius, Swaziland, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
• Motor Vehicles Distribution and Servicing in South Africa, Angola, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.
• 5-Star Hotels and Lodges in Mauritius, Mozambique, Ghana and Kenya.
• Property Construction and Development operations in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya.
• General trading through distribution and supermarket chains in Malawi and Nigeria.

The Lonrho Africa Group internal audit function, which was based in Nairobi, provided internal auditing services to all the operating companies in Africa and the UK.  The audit function was responsible for performing reviews of the entire group’s operational, financial and compliance controls, in addition to business risk reviews while observing ‘best-practices’ in internal auditing.  Timothy’s responsibilities included supervising, jointly with the Group Internal Auditor, a team of 16 internal auditors working concurrently on different audit assignments in different countries.  He was responsible for ensuring that internal audit work was properly planned and done, quality control including detailed review of working papers, client liaison, review and issue of internal audit reports, liaison with external auditors, and staff training and development.

Timothy has also attended various training courses in risk management, internal auditing, fraud detection & prevention, etc. both locally and in the UK.  He has also attended training courses on  Team Building, Report Writing and Communication Skills, Effective Meetings, Fraud Prevention, Internal Controls and Risk Management, Professional Practices Framework for Internal Auditors and Performance of System Audits etc., in Kenya.