Had she beaten five other candidates in her most recent high-profile shortlisting, Dr Nancy Onyango would today sit as the first-ever female Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor.
While that door shut, another opened just over three months after she ended her tour as the director of internal audit at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC, in March.
On Friday, President William Ruto appointed her to lead a team of nine to provide the first-ever forensic audit of public debt.
Dr Onyango and the task force are expected to leave no stone unturned in their quest to answer long-lingering questions on just what Kenya owns, to whom the debt belongs, and to what use the proceeds of the borrowing spree in recent decades have been applied.
The career-long auditor is expected to uncover the truth about puzzles that have escaped even the best of her mind in her field.
Former Auditor-General Edward Ouko, for instance, says his hair greyed faster as he struggled to exhume the receipts and spending of Kenya’s debut Sh256.9 billion ($2 billion) Eurobond.
The mystery of the sovereign bond lingers to this very day and has turned to the stuff of myths, absurdity, mockery, and even embarrassment for the State.
Just how much was debited to the CBK accounts, why did Kenya contract the commercial facility, and who was the beneficiary of its proceeds?
Dr Onyango is perhaps best placed to peel back the mask and show the real face of the June 2014 Eurobond.
Her meticulousness and quest for perfection, almost to a fault, will come in handy for the next 90 days or for as long as it takes to have a full view of Kenya’s sovereign liabilities.
“I have such high standards for everybody. I’m almost, for lack of a better word, brutal with my assessment of people, whether at work or with my family members. One of the things I’m learning to appreciate is that people are different and people want different things for themselves, Dr Onyango told the Business Daily in a January 2019 interview.
Dr Anayango brings tonnes of experience to the mission, having worked for more than three decades in audit across 15 African countries before rising to the IMF post.
Her rise to the Washington-based multilateral lender in her most recent posting has been decades in the making, beginning the journey of a million miles with a trainee posting at C&L Rotterdam in 1989, an opportunity she still reveres based on her inclusion of the intern role in her profile to this very day.
Other firms, home and abroad, including KCB Group, Fairtrade America, UNDP, FSD Africa, EY, and PwC, have all been proud to have the avid auditor in their books.
Dr Anyango’s accolades go beyond career-earning decorations, both on and off the field.
Despite her illustrious career spanning across countries and time zones, she has remained active in philanthropy and remains a mentor to millions of young women under the Global Give Back Circle, a girl-child empowerment organisation that works with partners to deliver scholarships and later help the girls secure opportunities in the public and private sectors.
Her work in philanthropy has seen her earn the recognition of peers such as former IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, the current President of the European Central Bank.
While years of experience have prepared Dr Onyango for her new assignment, unravelling Kenya’s public debt will be no walk in the park.
Public debt remains an emotive issue for an ever-increasingly aware public, which makes her role and contribution not only professional but also political in a sense.
Debt mystery
With Kenya set to spend at least Sh1.85 trillion in servicing debt, including interest payments, in the 2024–25 financial year, clarity on what the disbursements have been, their uses, and their benefits for the country will be a matter of national importance.
Dr Anyango will count on the support of other task force members, who include Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya chairperson Phillip KaiKai, Institute of Engineers of Kenya president Shammah Kiteme, and policy and governance specialist Vincent Kimosop.
International Budget Partnerships country manager Abraham Rugo and economist Aaron Thegeya also bring a solid pair of arms to the debt mystery search party.
Dr Anyango, who admits it’s lonely at the top but not cold, adds to an illustrious list of women who keep the glue of integrity, accountability, and morality of Kenya’s fiscal soundness together.
They include but are not limited to, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu, the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o, and Salaries and Remunerations Commission chairperson Lyn Mengich.
