Nairobi, June 14 -- On Monday last week, Bharat Thakrar, the ousted chief executive of WPP Scangroup, made yet another attempt to reclaim influence over the company he founded more than four decades ago. The effort was always destined to fail.

At the annual general meeting of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed marketing services firm, Thakrar and a group of minority shareholders sought to remove the entire board and replace it with a slate of directors led by the company's founder.

But the numbers were never on their side. British advertising giant WPP Plc, which owns 56.26 percent of Scangroup, voted against every proposal put forward by Thakrar and his allies.

The result was predictable. The resolutions collapsed, leaving Thakrar...