Best of luck to CBK governor Ndung’u

American business magnate Donald Trump once said “everything in life is luck”.

But don’t tell that to the man with the difficult job of managing Kenya’s Central Bank.

Prof Njuguna Ndung’u believes he’s competent and that his job has nothing to do with luck.

Sample this: The man was in Yaoundé, Cameroon when he got a midnight call from Nairobi telling him to cut short his trip and return home.

When he arrived, he was given the job at the CBK. He hadn’t even applied for it! He wasn’t interviewed. He just got the job.

MPs tried to allude that his appointment had shades of political lobbying, but the professor told them he’s “never lobbied for any job in (his) life”.

He added that before his current job, he had “applied for international jobs advertised in The Economist.”

His tenure at the CBK was controversially renewed one year ago despite some adverse mentions in a commission of inquiry report.

For the past six months, Prof Ndung’u has been a harassed man because of the shaky shilling.

He believes the “shocks” that led to the slide were beyond his control — the crisis in Europe, high import bill, price of fuel on world markets, all of which led to inflation.

But, when the lives of 40 million Kenyans are in your hands, as far as bread and butter matters are concerned, and you keep blaming the rain and other alien factors, you need lots of luck — which is exactly what the governor will need to deal with the MPs.

Importance of wards

The battle for power has shifted from the constituencies to the wards. That’s the belated realisation to hit MPs.

They know that with county governments, whether they like it or not, the CDF will become untenable.

The power of coming up with projects, implementing them and ensuring their sustainability will fall to the County Assembly.

For MPs to execute the usual promises — schools, hospitals, roads and bridges —often made at election time, they’ll have to be on good terms with governors and county representatives.

Those who know this have been busy pushing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to create more wards in their constituencies.

You’ll see more of their shenanigans when the revised IEBC report is tabled in Parliament.

A regional crisis

There’s a health crisis across the region. And that’s likely to threaten regional health and, ultimately, politics.

In Kenya, doctors have threatened to go on strike again, saying the government reneged on a pay deal.

In Tanzania, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has a plan. He wants all striking doctors fired; new ones hired and yes, he’s banned the Medical Association of Tanzania from holding meetings. 

Did I hear that in Uganda power cuts caused the death of 150 people in six months? Clearly this is a regional crisis.

What’s so difficult in ensuring we have a healthy region and not an aggregation of sick citizens?