Susan Jemutai Koech has been appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya by President William Ruto.
She succeeds as CBK’s second female deputy governor. For the role, ten additional individuals had been shortlisted.
Ruto nominated her for the position in February, and she was vetted and given the go-ahead by the National Assembly Budget and Planning Committee.
The appointment was announced by Ruto in a gazette notice dated March 10, 2023.
“I, William Samoei Ruto, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, appoint Dr Susan Jemtai Koech to be the deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya for a term of four years,” Ruto said.
Koech holds a doctorate in business administration from Moi University.
She previously served as Principal Secretary in the ministries of Tourism and Wildlife, East African Community, ASAL and Regional Development.
Prior to assuming the roles in public service, the career bank worked as head of the Nairobi region for Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group.
“I attribute my career progress over the years, to God’s grace, strong support system from my family, hard work, strong intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and ability to deliver results through people,” she told the vetting panel.
Koech was in early 2021 turned into a state witness together with former Treasury PS Kamau Thugge in the Kimwarer and Arror dams case which they had initially been charged alongside former Treasury CS Henry Rotich over alleged loss of billions of shillings.
During her vetting, Koech told MPs that she will endeavour to reintroduce an interest rate cap to lower the cost of credit and help establish a functional and vibrant interbank forex market.
“To manage frauds in the banking sector, when a bank is coming up with a new product, before approval of any bank product, all the risk parameters need to be looked at,” she said.
