The only person who can tell why Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) does not have a board of directors is President Uhuru Kenyatta. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said MPs would have to wait for the names of the board members from the President.
The CS said he had no way of knowing when the names would be submitted to Parliament, but all he knew was that the selection process was ongoing and the names would hit the Legislature for approval 'shortly'.
Addressing the parliamentary inquiry investigating the closure of three banks within two years, the CS insisted the best he could do was wait for State House to find the suitable candidates and nominate them for parliamentary approval.
"That nomination is done by the President. We are in the final stages of making the nomination and that is why I said the names will be here shortly. As to when that is exactly, I do not know. If it was within my powers, I would give you the timelines right away," said Rotich.
At a time when the absence of the board has been partly blamed for the supervision failures at CBK, National Assembly's Finance Planning and Trade Committee members sought answers why it was taking inordinately long to pick a new board of directors to guide the regulation of commercial banks.
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The chairman of the committee, Benjamin Lang'at (Ainamoi) and Rahim Dawood (North Imenti) said it was shocking that nearly eight months after a new chairman of the CBK board was appointed, he did not have members.
"It doesn't make sense for you to have a board chairman without members," said Dawood.
The CS also told MPs that it was unlikely the Government would push for the increase of the money that depositors get if a bank goes under. The figure at the moment is a maximum of Sh100,000, which is paid for any bank that is under liquidation.
