President William Ruto has appointed former Treasury cabinet secretary (CS) Henry Rotich as senior advisor on fiscal affairs and budget policy in his office.
This is according to a letter from the head of Public Service Felix Koskei on Thursday, February 8, 2024.
Rotich, who previously served as Treasury CS in 2013 under then-president Uhuru Kenyatta,
brings a wealth of experience to his new role.
Before his appointment as CS, he held the position of head of Macroeconomics at the Treasury for seven years.
Prior to that, Rotich worked at the Central Bank of Kenya for 12 years and was an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 2001 and 2004.
Throughout his career, Rotich has also served as a Director on several Boards of State Corporations, including the Insurance Regulatory Board,
Industrial Development Bank, Communication Commission of Kenya, and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard University’s Kennedy School,
as well as MA and BA degrees in Economics from the University of Nairobi.
In a recent development, Henry Rotich and eight other co-accused persons have been acquitted in the Ksh.63 billion Arror and Kimwarer case.
Magistrate Nyutu in her rulling ,on Thursday, December 14,
stated that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that the former CS and the others involved had violated procurement laws in the dams case.
Magistrate Nyutu criticized the prosecution for calling only eight witnesses out of the intended 49,
suggesting that this may have contributed to the acquittal.
She referred to it as a “prosecution-led acquittal” and ruled that all the accused persons were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
Following the acquittal, a jubilant Rotich addressed the press, expressing his belief that justice had prevailed.
He stated, “I think the devil has been ashamed, and I believe he will permanently be ashamed for those who schemed this evil work. I will give a more detailed reaction.”
During the trial, Rotich had argued for his acquittal, asserting that the narrative of money being lost or stolen was a fiction.
He claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove its case by not calling all its witnesses and questioned-
why the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) had not traced any lost funds or frozen assets.
Rotich’s lawyer, Kioko Kilukumi, highlighted the prosecution’s abandonment of its case, suggesting that it was intentional or deliberate.
Additionally, lawyer Phillip Nyachoti argued that no witnesses had testified against Kennedy Nyakudi and Jackson Kinyanjui,
making the charges against them untenable.
With the acquittal, Rotich can now move forward with his new role as senior advisor to President Ruto,
bringing his expertise in fiscal affairs and budget policy to the office.
