NAIROBI, Kenya — Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u has accused President William Ruto of micromanaging government institutions, claiming the practice has created a culture of fear among public officials and undermined institutional independence.
Speaking during an interview, Ndung’u said Kenya has capable public institutions but argued that their effectiveness is being hampered by excessive interference from the Executive.
“You are right that capacity is there to do the right thing, but it is covered by the institutional problem failure. There is somebody who overruns the institution,” Ndung’u said.
“Right now, I don’t mind if I am quoted. Right now, the current President overruns all the institutions and that is why everybody in those institutions will have to conform for fear.”
The former Treasury CS, who served under President Ruto, said he resisted pressure to engage in questionable dealings while heading the National Treasury.
“But I refused to do deals in the Ministry of Finance. I can’t do deals. I know it follows you to the grave; it doesn’t go away with the regime,” he said.
Ndung’u cautioned that public officials who participate in irregular transactions often continue facing legal and reputational consequences long after leaving office.
“There are people who are my friends who were caught up in some of those things, including at the Central Bank. Even by the time they died, they were still followed by those things. The cases were still not concluded,” he said.
Reflecting on his earlier tenure as Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Ndung’u also revisited the regulatory battles surrounding the launch of M-Pesa, saying political interference nearly derailed the mobile money platform.
“Actually there are some people who argue that I would not have succeeded with M-Pesa, for example, if it was a different regime. And I have seen it,” he said.
“There is a Minister of Finance who even almost stopped M-Pesa. It is only that I reminded him that the Central Bank is independent and you cannot direct the Governor of CBK. But even having said that, because the big were fighting, I had to go down and do what he wanted.”
Ndung’u’s remarks are likely to intensify debate over the independence of constitutional institutions and the relationship between the Executive and public agencies.
