Economy
Ruto advisers among six short-listed for central bank governor
Wednesday May 03 2023
Former Treasury CS Kamau Thugge. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Two senior economic advisers to President William Ruto are among the six candidates who will be interviewed for the job of central bank governor, which will become vacant in June.
Kamau Thugge, who served as the Permanent Secretary in the Treasury from 2013-2018, has been short-listed for the job, alongside Adan Mohamed, who served in the cabinet from 2013-2022.
Both are now advisers in President William Ruto’s office. The shortlist of six was published late on Tuesday by the Public Service Commission, which is leading the recruitment.
The post will become vacant in June when Governor Patrick Njoroge’s tenure ends after eight years.
Other candidates for the post include Dorcas Mutonyi, Haron Sirima, Edward Sambili and Nancy Onyango.
Thugge was a senior staffer at the International Monetary Fund in Washington before joining the government, while Mohamed served as a chief executive of Barclays Bank of Kenya, now Absa Bank.
They will face off for the post with four others, including the current head of the debt office in the finance ministry, and a former head of planning in the finance ministry.
The next governor will face a challenging task due to a heavy government debt burden, which is threatening to upend years of macro stability.
They will also have to deal with shilling currency’s sharp depreciation, which has been partly blamed for inflationary pressure.
All six candidates will be interviewed by the commission on Tuesday next week, which will then forward a shorter list of its preferred candidates for the president to choose from.
