The Central Bank of Kenya has been in the limelight following the crash of Chase Bank, now under receivership.
All this is happening in its 50th anniversary since CBK was opened in 1966. But hidden behind behind the opening was the not so small matter of Finance Minister, James Gichuru missing in action!
Gichuru loved swilling his tipple in down town Nairobi where briefcase with papers containing monetary policies and upcoming budgets were found at Karai Bari, his local.
On the day of opening the Central Bank, with President Kenyatta The First as chief guest, Gichuru had chewed a polite blackout! The late John Michuki, then under-secretary at Treasury, had to rummage through Gichuru’s office (which is rumoured to have had a bar at his service) to get the official speech before the president arrived.
It is also interesting that the Central Bank was built on the spot where a Freemason’s Lodge once stood, according to James Smart’s Nairobi: A Jubilee History 1900-1950.
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Dr Patrick Njoroge, an Opus Dei Catholic, is the ninth in a line of Governors stretching back to Dr Leon Baranski, the first governor who paved way for Duncan Ndegwa. For 15 years, Ndegwa held sway, becoming the longest serving governor until he handed over to Philip Ndegwa in December 1982 in the early years of President Moi’s rule.
Philip Ndegwa served for six years. Eric Kotut took over and stayed put for six years as well. Micah Cheserem did seven years, handing over to Nahashon Nyagah — the shortest serving governor at only two years to 2003 when retired President Mwai Kibaki appointed Andrew Mulei who served for four-years to March 2007. Prof Njuguna Ndung’u took over for eight years until Dr Patrick Njoroge took over.
Did you know that of all those governors, it is Duncan Ndegwa who hated the smell of cash? In his 2009 memoirs, Walking in Kenyatta Struggles: My Story and from where we learn about Gichuru’s gyration with the bottle, Ndegwa says he was not only tired of being introduced as the man whose signature graced Kenya’s currency.
Equally, he said, the 15 years spent at Central Bank, visiting it’s vaults and all, had made him turn his nose at the smell of crisp cash, crumpled cash, any cash!
