Two economic advisers of President William Ruto headline a list of six persons nominated to replace Patrick Njoroge as the governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
Kamau Thugge and Adan Mohamed who are members of the President's Council of Economic Advisors are part of those eyeing to become the new boss of the CBK.
Dr Njoroge, who has served for eight years, will leave office on June 17, 2023, and the Public Service Commission (PSC) will interview Dr Thugge, Mr Mohamed and four others on Tuesday next week.
The four others are former CBK deputy governors, Edward Sambili and Haron Sirma, Nancy Onyango who is the Director at the International Monetary Fund and Dorcas Mutonyi.
The new CBK governor faces the daunting task where the shilling has sharply depreciated against the dollar and also a heavy government debt burden, which is threatening to upset years of macro stability.
Dr Thugge, a former Treasury Principal Secretary, is the senior adviser and Head of Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy at the State House, making a comeback after being thrown out of the National Treasury under a cloud of corruption charges.
He was forced out of his position at the National Treasury over his alleged role in the multi-billion Kimwarer and Arror dams' construction in Elgeyo Marakwet.
Dr Thugge was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2021.
Mr Mohamed served as a chief executive of Barclays Bank of Kenya, now Absa Bank before he was appointed the Cabinet Secretary for Industrialisation in 2013. He exited the Cabinet last year.
The new CBK governor will be the tenth boss of the banking regulator which was established by an Act of Parliament of March 24, 1966, and started operations on September 14, 1966.
Past CBK governors include Leon Baranski, Duncan Ndegwa, Philip Ndegwa, Eric Kotut, Micah Cheserem, Nahashon Nyagah, Andrew Mullei and Njuguna Ndung'u. Dr Njoroge’s successor will be appointed for a term of four years, renewable once, subject to performance.
