On Monday, May 15, President William Ruto nominated Dr. Kamau Thugge as the next governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) ahead of the incumbent, Dr Patrick Njoroge's exit.
If the National Assembly approves his nomination, Thugge will be the tenth Governor of the CBK.
“President and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, has, on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission nominated, Dr. Kamau Thugge, CBS for appointment as the Governor for the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK),” read the statement by Felix Koskei, the Head of Public Service.
His ability to translate economic theory to real-world practice has set him apart from his peers working for reputable international institutions and the government as an economist .
For instance, in March 1997, he exhibited his academic prowess when he published a 29-page research paper for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) titled “Debt Relief for Low-Income Countries and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative” together with Anthony Boote.
Academically, he holds an undergraduate degree from Colorado College in the United States and a master’s degree and a PhD. from Johns Hopkins University, also in the USA.
According to US News, Johns Hopkins University is a private university and is ranked as the seventh-best university in the USA.
It was founded in 1876 and is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the world.
He worked for the IMF from 1985 to 2010 in various capacities. He started out as an economist, rose to senior economist, and then to Deputy Division Chief.
In 2010, he left the IMF to join the National Treasury under former President Uhuru Kenyatta who was the Minister of Finance in the Grand Coalition Government.
When Uhuru became president in 2013, he appointed Thugge to be the first Principal Secretary in the National Treasury under the 2010 Constitution.
In 2019, things went south when he was hounded out of office on allegations of misconduct and was replaced by Dr. Julius Muia.
Later, he was charged in court over the Arror and Kimwarer dams scandal together with the Treasure CS at the time, Henry Rotich.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) accused him of partaking in a conspiracy to defraud the government of billions of shillings.
However, in January 2021, the ODPP turned Thugge into a state witness in the case, after withdrawing charges that were levelled against him.
Prior to his nomination, Dr. Thugge was a senior adviser and Head of Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy at the State House.
Dr. Patrick Njoroge, the current Governor of CBK will end his eight-year reign at the CBK on June 19, 2023.
"The Presidential nomination comes ahead of the imminent retirement of Dr. Patrick N. Njoroge, CBS who has served the nation with distinction as the ninth Governor of the Central Bank from 19th June 2015 and who is statutorily ineligible for reappointment,” noted Felix Koskei.
