NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 18-The Cabinet Secretary nominee for Treasury Professor Njuguna Ndung’u was on Tuesday put to task by legislators to explain claims that he presided over the collapse of banks during his tenure at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
The MPs in the Committee on Appointments wanted to know what he did or failed to do leading to a weak shilling when he was in charge.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa specifically asked Ndung’u to explain why several banks including Chase bank and Imperial banks collapsed when he served as the CBK Governor.
But Ndung’u denied claims that he was to blame for the collapse, instead blaming the collapse on other factors.
“During my time, there was no bank that collapsed. I agree there were problems and what we did was to develop solutions so as to save the markets. There were several mergers and those mergers were geared towards preventing any collapse of banks because market situations do change,” Ndung’u told the MPs.
He also defended the decisions he made regarding the mergers, saying that he was just doing his job as a regulator.
“A regulator is not someone who is waving an axe in the market. A regulator is a person who is trying to understand the market, help develop the market, and regulate and protect the market, and that’s what I did,” he stated.
Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi also raised a question on the award of the currency printing tender to De La Rue company in which taxpayers lost an estimated Sh3 billion, during Ndungu’s tenure.
Njuguna was accused of actively participating in the controversial cancellation of the 2008 tender to print the new-generation bank notes.
“I have been a victim of abuse of the criminal justice system. The procurement tender was to ensure Njuguna is out of the Central Bank of Kenya,” he said.
He also denied claim that his wife went on a luxurious holiday in Thailand funded by Imperial Bank when he served as CBK Governor.
He said he is the one who funded the trip.
Ndungu in his submission told the committee that one of his notable achievements at CBK was when Safaricom sent off MPesa, a versatile cash move administration that has placed Kenya on the worldwide innovation map.
He placed his net worth at Sh950mn.
