Vodafone has announced that its Chairman, Sir John Bond is to step down from the company at its AGM this July and is to be succeeded by Gerard Kleisterlee, currently CEO and Chairman of Dutch electronics group, Philips. Sir John took up the Chairmanship position at Vodafone in July 2006, replacing Ian MacLaurin who held the job between 1998 and 2006. A statement from Vodafone Group quoted Chief Executive of the group, Vittorio Colao as saying "on behalf of the board and everyone at Vodafone I would like to pay tribute to Sir John for his huge contribution to the company throughout his tenure as Chairman.” He said “we have been fortunate to have benefited from his leadership, experience and wise counsel in a time of evolution for Vodafone and I personally am very grateful to him for his constant support and personal advice since becoming CEO, during a phase of extraordinary economic and industry changes." The statement also welcomed Mr. Kleisterlee, saying that apart from his role at Philips, he had been a member of the Daimler Supervisory Board since April 2009, a non-executive director of the Supervisory Board and member of the Audit Committee of Royal Dutch Shell since November 2010, and a member of the Board of Directors of Dell since December 2010. Commenting on the appointment of Mr Kleisterlee as his successor, Sir John Bond said "today's announcement is the culmination of a succession planning process which the Board initiated in February 2010. He said he was delighted to announce that Gerard Kleisterlee, a highly successful international businessman whose track record at Philips speaks for itself, will be succeeding him as Chairman after his six years on the Board of Vodafone. Story by: Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona/Asempa FM/Ghana