Despite him having passed the retirement age of 65 years, the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua has been a man President Uhuru Kenyatta has held close, with no indication of letting him go any time soon.
According to the Standard, Kinyua had in several instances indicated his intention to resign, a move that had always been countered by Uhuru.
This seemed to be a trend adopted by almost all presidents, who have been known to hold close certain individuals in the public service due to their long-time experience and ability to have things done in the right way.
In 1980, 2 years after leaving his role as an assistant lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Kinyua joined the Central Bank of Kenya where he was appointed as an economist.
Kinyua would later move to the International Monetary fund in the same capacity where he served from 1985.
In 1995, President Moi brought him back to the government and appointed him to the position of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
Four years later, Kinyua’s ability to manage key government financial departments would lead him to a re-appointment at the CBK, now in the position of Director of Financial Markets, where he was later appointed as the chief economist in the year 2000.
President Moi later appointed Kinyua as the permanent secretary ministry of finance and later moved him in the same position to the ministry of planning and national development.
After the ascension to power of the Narc government under President Mwai Kibaki in 2003, Kinyua was one of the few public servants who was not shown the door where he was appointed as the permanent secretary in the ministry of agriculture.
Kibaki later moved him in the same capacity to the Ministry of Finance in the year 2004 a position he was re-appointed to in 2008 where he served under Uhuru who was deputy prime minister and minister for finance.
After President Uhuru Kenyatta came into power in 2013, one of his first appointments was Kinyua, who was given double roles of chief of staff and head of public service, the Standard owing this to the good rapport had gotten while serving together at the Ministry of Finance.
Kinyua would later be absolved of the Chief of staff role in 2016 upon the appointment of Nzioka Waita to the role.
