CBK staff locked out of deputy governor’s job

Politics and policy

Ms Rose Detho, CBK Director of Strategic Management, and Charles Ringera, HELB chief executive were among applicants for the deputy governor’s post. PHOTOS | FILE 

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO, aodhiambo@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The Public Service Commission (PSC) said no person will be appointed to the position of deputy CBK governor if she or he is a salaried employee of any public entity.
• The PSC last week re-advertised the position of deputy CBK governor after 42 applicants failed to impress the selection panel.

Central Bank of Kenya staff, bankers and civil servants have been locked out of the race for the bank’s deputy governor job after the Public Service Commission (PSC) re-advertised the post.

In a tightly set criteria, PSC said no person will be appointed to the position of deputy CBK governor if she or he is a salaried employee of any public entity.

“No person shall be appointed as deputy governor... if he/she is a Member of the Parliament or a Member of a County Assembly, a salaried employee of any public entity (except on a secondment basis) or a director, officer, employee, partner in or shareholder of any specified bank or financial institution” PSC said without providing details.

This comes as the commission said it didn’t get a qualified candidate for the position in a recruitment drive which saw it shortlist five people for the post of governor.

They will be interviewed on April 7. The PSC did not respond to the Business Daily’s questions on reasons behind locking out public servants.

The PSC last week re-advertised the position of deputy CBK governor after 42 applicants failed to impress the selection panel. They included top executives at the central bank and chief executives of State agencies.

“The position of deputy governor did not attract adequate applicants and has therefore been re-advertised,” PSC said in a statement on Friday and set April 9 as the deadline for applications.

Among the 42 applicants were top CBK staff including Ms Rose Detho (Director in charge of Strategic Management), Gerald Arita Nyaoma, (Director Financial Markets), Daniel Mwirigi (Deputy Director Research) and Nicholas Korir, formerly Director Policy Analysis, who is currently on secondment to Comesa Monetary Institute.

READ: PSC shortlists five to battle out for Central Bank governor position

Sheila Mmbijjewe, who formerly sat in the influential CBK Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), was also among the applicants.

Chief executives of the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) and Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), Charles Mutuma Ringera and George Ooko respectively, also sought the deputy governor’s job.

The successful candidate for the governor’s post will replace Njuguna Ndung’u whose term ended earlier this month after eight years in office.

Those invited for the interview are Geoffrey Mwau, the Economics Secretary at the Treasury, Peninah Wanjira Kariuki, and Edward Sambili, who was the deputy central bank governor.

Also on the list is current central bank deputy governor Haron Sirima and Patrick Ngugi Njoroge.

The PSC said in a statement on Friday that candidates for the post of chairman will be interviewed on April 7.