President Uhuru Kenyatta is likely to reappoint Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge for a second term with the latter’s four year tenure set to lapse in June 2018, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
According to the publication, President Kenyatta is set to announce the decision to hand Njoroge a second term based on his success in steadying the Kenyan currency and efforts to ensure banks avail loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Speaking to the press last week, Njoroge stayed clear on his possible reappointment and asked journalists to direct their questions to President Kenyatta who is the appointing authority.
Njoroge who was appointed in June 2015 has managed to ensure that the shilling has remained steady averaging Sh101.97 to the US dollar during his time in office while inflation has been confined to rates recommended by the government and international institutions.
On Saturday, the CBK governor caught the country unawares when he announced that the government will be phasing out the Ksh1,000 note from October this year, a move aimed at devaluing dirty money and ensuring that hoarded money circulates in the economy.
“If you are sitting on money and you are unable to explain how you acquired it, then it becomes paper so come October it will be paper, it will be worthless,” said Njoroge in a follow up press conference on Monday.
The former International Monetary Fund (IMF) adviser has also been vocal in defending the performance of the Kenyan shilling. In November 2018, Njoroge took on his former employer for using Kenya as foreign exchange formula ‘guinea pig’ after the global finance institution claimed that the Kenyan shilling was overvalued by 17.5% at the time.
{Read: CBK: Only very few Kenyans hold more than Sh5m}
“We are being used as a guinea pig on the External Balance Assessment-Light methodology. The methodology was used in a black box method, which we cannot accept.” said Njoroge.
When Uhuru picked Njoroge to be CBK boss in 2015, State House was forced to defend the appointment on account that the acting CBK boss at the time, Haron Sirima was expected to take over the reins from former governor Njuguna Ndung’u since he was more experienced and had been serving as the deputy governor before he was tapped for the interim role.
{See also: CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge on new bank notes roll out}
“The president picked the most qualified person for the job,” read a tweet posted by then State House Director of Digital and Diaspora Communications Dennis Itumbi
