Ex-CS Henry Rotich Rejects Ruto's Job Offer

The appointment was made merely 24 hours ago in a letter from the Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei.

Ex-CS Henry Rotich Rejects Ruto's Job Offer
President William Ruto chats with former Treasury CS Henry Rotich. /DPPS

Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has reportedly rejected President William Ruto’s job offer as the Senior Advisor on Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy.

Reports that Viral Tea could not independently verify at the time of publishing indicated that Rotich opted to pursue reinstatement at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), his former employer.

The appointment was made merely 24 hours ago in a letter from the Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei.

Rotich instead argued that he would be of value to the country if he is deployed to the Central Bank of Kenya, which is under the Ministry of Treasury, where he has served for years.

Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich. /FILE

“I thank the president for appointing me to be among his advisers. I, however, think I’d be of better service to the country if I go back to CBK where I worked for many years," Rotich was quoted by The Star.

Rotich worked at the Central Bank of Kenya for 12 years between 1994 and 2006 as the Assistant Director of Economic Affairs.

Rotich was appointed as the Senior Advisor on Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy, his first government role since being fired by former President Uhuru Kenyatta as Treasury CS.

In the role, he was to offer advice on the management of the economy and public finances.

The position was previously held by the current Central Bank Governor Kamau Thugge since October 2022. Thugge had been appointed to the position by former Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua.

Before he was appointed a Cabinet Secretary in 2013, Rotich was the head of Macroeconomics at the Treasury. He was removed from this position on January 14, 2020, and was replaced by Ukur Yatani.

On December 14, 2023, Rotich was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Arror and Kimwarer Scandal. A Nairobi anti-corruption court acquitted him on the Arror and Kimwarer dam graft case for lack of evidence, even though the taxpayer lost Ksh63 billion.

In her ruling, Milimani Magistrate Eunice Nyutu freed Rotich and his eight co-accused of all the 30 corruption charges after the prosecution failed to prove them.

"All the accused persons in this case are hereby acquitted under section 210 due to lack of evidence as a result of the reckless dereliction of duty by the prosecution," the ruling read in part.

The former CS alongside eight other individuals was arrested in July 2019 by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for embezzling funds that were meant for the two dams.

Rotich was arrested by Police after the then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji ordered his arrest for flouting procurement laws and awarding the construction of the two dams to an Italian firm.

"It was established that the conception, procurement and payment process for the dam projects were riddled with massive illegalities," Haji stated at the time.

The former CS was charged with a total of 19 counts, including unlawfully executing loan agreements totalling £578,309,578 to finance the construction of the Arror and Kimwarer multipurpose dams.

Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich. /K24 DIGITAL