Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge appears to be in the firing line with the new government over the CBK reporting requirement for transactions over Sh1 million.
Of course, the CBK Governor is not above criticism. It could be argued that he has tried too hard to prevent the shilling from depreciating and thereby allowed forex bureaus to create a parallel exchange rate.
But, in general, Njoroge has been an exemplary technocrat who has always pursued what he believes to be the national interest. He has not been corrupt and he has tightened up the internal operations of the banks. Overall, he has been good for Kenya.
And there are many other civil servants like Njoroge who are traditional technocrats doing what they consider the best job possible.
In 2002, President Kibaki kept on many of the best civil servants, like Francis Muthaura, from the Moi era. That helped him. In 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta made a clean sweep of top officials. That hurt him.
President Ruto should identify and retain the best technocrats in government now that he has taken over power. That will provide institutional memory and help him steer Kenya in the right direction.
Quote of the day: "I know the Haitian people - because I am the Haitian people."
François Duvalier
Papa Doc was elected president of Haiti on September 22, 1957
