Here’s why CBK Governor nominee is single at 54
Members of Parliament received flak on Tuesday when they asked President Uhuru Kenyatta’s nominee to head the Central Bank of Kenya to explain why he is unmarried at 54.
Dr Patrick Ngugi Njoroge told members of the National Assembly’s Finance, Trade and Planning Committee that he is unmarried by choice.
“I am single by choice and that is where I am today. You never know what I will have tomorrow,” he said.
The Nairobi News can now reveal why Dr Njoroge is still single: he is a staunch member of Opus Dei, an institution of the Roman Catholic that has strong beliefs on marriage, children and use of contraceptives.
Opus Dei, according to Wikipedia, emphasises the “universal call to holiness”: the belief that everyone should aspire to be a saint, as per Jesus’ commandment to “love God with all your heart” and “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”.
And it runs in the family. The CBK governor nominee is the brother of Opus Dei bishop Anthony Muheria, informally referred to as (President Mwai) “Kibaki’s bishop” due to their closeness.
CATHOLIC FAITH
The incumbent Kitui diocese bishop, who is also unmarried by virtue of being a catholic priest, was in 2011 appointed by Mr Kibaki to be part of the Judicial Service Commission.
He, however, quit before the selection of a new chief justice could be completed, saying he arrived at the decision after reflection and wide consultations, “guided also by the norms that assist shepherds and bishops in the Catholic Church.”
The economist, who beat Dr Haron Sirima, Treasury Economic Affairs Director Dr Geoffrey Ngungi Mwau, former Planning permanent secretary and one time CBK deputy governor Dr Edward Sambili and Dr Peninah Kariuki to be the favourite candidate has career in Economics spanning over 20 years.
Dr Njoroge began his career in Kenya’s Ministry of Planning in 1985. He would join the Ministry of Finance two years later where he served until 1994 before settling at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a senior economist in 1995.
He had his longest stint in the Senior Economist position spanning ten years before he became the Mission Chief for Dominica and later Deputy Division Chief in the Finance Department.
Until Wednesday’s nomination by the President, Dr Njoroge was the Advisor to Deputy Managing Director a role he had played for just under three years at the global financier.