'It follows you to your grave': Ndung'u accuses Ruto of overrunning state institutions

Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u. [File,Standard]

Former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u has accused President William Ruto of overrunning state institutions, saying fear of lifelong repercussions forces officials to conform.

Speaking at a meeting in Sweden, Ndung'u said independent institutions exist but are weakened when leaders seek to dominate them.

"Right now, the current president overruns all the institutions. And that is why everybody in those institutions will have to conform for fear," Ndung'u noted.

Ndung'u said he refused to engage in improper deals during his tenure at the National Treasury despite pressure, warning that the consequences of compromising public office can last a lifetime.

"I refuse to do deals in the Ministry of Finance. I can't do deals. I know, it follows you to your grave," he observes.

He argued that the consequences of institutional compromise outlast the political regimes in which they occur.

"It doesn't go away with the regime, by the way. There are people who are my friends; they were caught up in some of those things, including in the central bank. And even by the time they died, they were still being followed by those things," he recalled.

Ndung'u added that some of the cases involving his associates were never concluded because of the severity of the consequences they carried.

He served as Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) from March 2007 to March 2015 before President Ruto appointed him Treasury Cabinet Secretary in September 2022.

Ruto dropped him from the Cabinet in July 2024 during a broader reshuffle.