Lessons from CBK governor’s refusal ‘to take his turn to eat’

Patrick Ngugi Njoroge, the new Central Bank of Kenya Governor, is no doubt a special Kenyan. For one whose corner office places him as close as it can get to the public feeding trough, Dr Njoroge’s refusal to take his turn to eat is surprising.

Despite his familiar surname, this mysterious public servant has also denied us the chance to pin on him any of our stereotypical ethnic labels.

For in our world, a man in public service who won’t grab the opportunity to accumulate some wealth for himself isn’t Kikuyu enough; just as one who passes the chance to floss around in a big machine like a Land- Rover can’t be a real Luo.

Dr Njoroge’s rare act of self-denial can only be a good thing considering he is joining a public service populated with crooks.

But it also places on his shoulders a burden of high public expectations he will struggle to meet.

Kenyans concerned about banks picking their pockets over the years through high interest rates will be looking to the humble Central Bank boss to fight in their corner and tame the beast.

For their part, the banks will be expecting Dr Njoroge to only vouch for business-friendly policies and not rock the boat.

Being a good conservative Catholic, you would expect him not to do anything that can upset the status quo.

Indeed when he appeared before the parliamentary vetting committee his words on every single issue raised were measured.

But even if Dr Njoroge were a genuine reformist, he would still run into the same problems that others who have come to public service holding the moral icon banner have faced.

One only needs to observe the evolution of Willy Mutunga, the Chief Justice, to understand how the CBK governor’s tenure is likely to pan out.

After years in the trenches, including doing time in detention, Dr Mutunga found his way into the Judiciary on the back of sky-rocketing expectations.

To his credit, he sought to demystify the justice system by having judges drop the wig, removed some administrative hurdles that used to slow down the wheels of justice and built more courtrooms across the country.

But Mutunga’s Judiciary has been fairly soft where the big decisions have been required, like the 2013 presidential election petition and the integrity case challenging the candidatures of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, then International Criminal Court indictees.

It is difficult to tell whether the early State intimidation campaign that at one point saw him humiliated at the airport by intelligence officers had any impact on the chief justice’s reformist zeal. What is clear is that he has mellowed significantly and the status quo no longer regards him threatening.

Of course, Dr Njoroge hasn’t said anything publicly yet to betray reformist pretensions. But, like the chief justice, the CBK chief probably knows already that he can only go too far.

Otieno is Chief Sub-Editor, Business Daily; [email protected]; Twitter: @otienootieno