Finance committee approves Kamau Thugge nomination as CBK Governor

The Finance and Planning Committee on Tuesday recommended that the National Assembly approves the nomination of Kamau Thugge as Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.

Dr Thugge, a former Treasury Principal Secretary, was nominated by President William Ruto on May 15 ahead of the imminent retirement of Dr Patrick Njoroge who has been CBK governor since June 2015.

“Having considered the suitability, capacity and integrity of the nominee, and pursuant to sections 13(1) and 13C of the Central Bank Act, sections 3 and 8 of the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act ago. 33 a 001 Order 216(5)(f) of the National Assembly Standing Order, the Departmental Committee of Finance and National Planning recommends that the National Assembly approves the nomination of Dr Kamau Thugge, CBS as Governor of the Cent. Bank of Kenya,” read a statement from the committee.

During his vetting on May 30, Thugge said his first cause of action once he assumes office will be to stabilise the shilling against the dollar by the issuance of dollar-denominated bonds to free up dollars held up in bank accounts.

He added that the Central Bank of Kenya under his stewardship will focus on reducing the fiscal deficit which was increased by borrowing to finance mega infrastructural projects and also increasing revenue mobilisation by the Kenya Revenue Authority to plug the deficit.

"Our revenue mobilization has declined over the years and also we have seen infrastructure projects that have increased external borrowing. How do we deal with this? We will look to reduce the budgetary deficit to 4% of GDP and this will be one of the major ways of addressing the debt issue in the country," Thugge told the National Assembly’s Finance and Planning Committee.

The former PS is currently a senior advisor and Head of Fiscal and Budget Policy in the president’s office. He is also a member of Ruto's Economic Council.

Thugge was facing corruption charges alongside former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.

He was accused of conspiracy to commit an economic crime, improperly conferring a benefit, abuse of office, committing an offence of financial misconduct, engaging in a project without prior planning and failing to comply with rules and regulations relating to the management of public finances.

The economist was accused alongside Rotich of inflating a commercial loan for the construction of the Kimwarer and Arror dams in Kerio Valley by Ksh.17 billion.

Thugge’s charges were, however, dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji in 2021, and he was made a State witness against Rotich over the scandals.

Prior to his appointment as Principal Secretary in 2013, he worked as a senior economic adviser in the Ministry of Finance from 2010.

He also worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1985 to 2010; where he served in the positions of Economist, Senior Economist, and Deputy Division Chief.

Thugge holds a PhD in Economics from John Hopkins University in the USA.