Behind every estimate are men and women doing all the donkey work

Joseph Kinyua, the permanent secretary at the Treasury, is a first among equals when it comes to control over the Budget. He is one of the few civil servants whose position is created by an Act of Parliament.

Mr Kinyua was first appointed to the position by President Moi in September 2002, just three months to the General Election that swept Kanu from power. When Narc took over, President Kibaki moved him to the Ministry of Planning and National Development in January, 2003. He was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture six months later.

But his stay at Kilimo House was short-lived because, when the Anglo Leasing scandal claimed its first casualties, the then Treasury permanent secretary, Mr Joseph Magari, Mr Kinyua was to return there in July 2004, to replace him. Born in 1951, the soft-spoken and publicity-shy technocrat was one of the permanent secretaries retained when President Kibaki named the Grand Coalition Cabinet in 2008 after weeks of speculation that he could be retired.

A University of Nairobi Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees graduate in economics, Mr Kinyua has vast experience in financial and public sector management. He has worked with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Central Bank of Kenya.

He began his career way back in 1978 as an assistant lecturer at the University of Nairobi before moving to CBK in 1980, where he rose through the ranks from economist to director of research. Five years later, he left for the IMF, where he joined as an economist on a fixed term appointment until 1990, when he returned to CBK.

In June 1995, he was appointed financial secretary at the Treasury, a position he held until July 1999, when he rejoined CBK as a director of financial markets. A year later, in October 2000, Mr Kinyua was promoted to chief economist at the bank, a position he retained until he was appointed the PS, Treasury in 2002.

By virtue of his position, he sits on various boards of organisations in which the government has a stake and holds shares on behalf of the State. A member of the programme committee of the African Economic Research Consortium, Mr Kinyua is also an alternate governor of the World Bank’s board of governors.

But behind the Budget, Mr Kinyua is not at alone. Mr Mutua Kilaka, the financial secretary, holds one of the most powerful positions in the country and is the second in command to the permanent secretary at the Treasury. Technically, he is at the rank of a PS and, therefore, the accounting officer of the Ministry of Finance.

By virtue of chairing the exchequer committee, he is also central to the operations of other ministries since the committee oversees the distribution of money to all ministries. He is the financial controller of the government. A former chief finance officer of, among others, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Kilaka took over from Mr Njeru Kirira.

Dr Geoffrey Mwau, the economic secretary, was appointed in 2007. Dr Mwau succeeded Dr Kamau Thugge. By virtue of his position, he is the technical person and key technocrat behind Budget preparation who provides revenue focus. Dr Mwau oversees economic planning at Treasury, which means he acts as a bridge linking the ministries of Finance and Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 as well as the Central Bank of Kenya.

As the economic secretary, he is responsible for fiscal policy and monetary issues, financial, and private sector issues as well as governance matters. Dr Mwau graduated from McGill University in Canada with a PhD in economics in 1994. Over the past five years, he worked as a senior adviser to the executive director representing Kenya and 21 other African countries at the executive board of the World Bank.

Prior to joining the World Bank, he was a senior regional adviser on economic policy analysis with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Previously, the University of Nairobi graduate worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an economist for Rwanda, Malawi, Botswana, and Uganda.

He taught economics in Nairobi and McGill universities. He is the alternate to the permanent secretary at the boards of CBK, Kenya Revenue Authority, Capital Markets Authority, Monetary Policy Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Committee of Experts on Vision 2030. Mrs Eunice Kigen is the acting director of the budgetary supply department.

The former chief finance officer in the Ministry of Finance succeeded Mr Paul Ngugi after he was suspended over the cemetery land scandal at City Hall. She is in charge of coordinating the expenditure side of the Budget by providing data on expenditure and compiling estimates.

Budgetary ceiling

She coordinates sector working groups and works closely with the chief finance officers of various ministries to set up budgetary ceilings for the ministries. Mr Justus Nyamunga, is the director fiscal affairs. He is a critical player in the Budget-making process since he coordinates and compiles key documents such as the Budget Strategy Paper and the Budget Policy Statement.

He does economic and revenue forecasting and liaises with the IMF and the WB. Ms Anne Waiguru is the head of the Economic Stimulus Package, which was formerly under the fiscal affairs department. She joined Treasury as a consultant in charge of governance two years ago.