Joseph Kinyua: Meet ‘Incorruptible’ Civil Servant Turned KCB Chairman

Joseph Kinyua, the long-serving senior civil servant who only left public service in October last year, after four decades, has been confirmed as the new Chairman of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group – one of Kenya’s largest banks.

The appointment was reportedly pushed for by the President William Ruto-led administration. The Kenyan government holds a 26.3% stake in KCB. Kinyua is widely regarded as a trusted figure in government circles, which might explain why he served four Presidents – Daniel Arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki and immediate former President Uhuru Kenyatta, and President Ruto.

He has previously been described by peers as ‘incorruptible’, and would famously surrender government vehicles assigned to him on Fridays to use his private vehicles on weekends.

Kinyua is the holder of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi (UoN) and a Master of Arts in Economics from the same institution.

His career began in 1978 as an assistant lecturer at UoN. In 1980, he joined the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as an economist. He rose through the ranks and was soon named as the Director of research at the apex bank.

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Between 1985 and 1990, Kinyua worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an economist. He would return to CBK as Director of Financial Markets in 1999, and in 2000 was named Chief Economist at CBK.

Kinyua has also has sat on a number of boards,  including the Board of Governors of the World Bank and on the Programme Committee of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).

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