Joseph Kinyua, who had worked for the government for 44 years, turned over the leadership of the public service to Felix Kosgei on Thursday.
President William Ruto praised Joseph Kinyua, saying, “Joseph Kinyua has made this transition painless and I want to thank him. He has worked with me to make sure Kenya offers an example of what a transition looks like.”
At the University of Nairobi, the 70-year-old began his professional life as an assistant lecturer in 1978.
He joined the Central Bank of Kenya two years later as an economist and eventually rose to the position of director of research.
He returned to CBK after working as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1985 to 1990.
Kinyua held both the positions of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Planning and National Development and the Ministry of Finance between January 2003 and 2013.
He was named Head of Public Service in 2013 by departed President Uhuru Kenyatta despite being one of Kenya’s senior government officers.
Additionally, he has served on the boards of several state corporations.
Kinyua also serves on the Programme Committee of the African Economic Research Consortium and the Board of Governors of the World Bank as an Alternate Governor (AERC).
He was given the responsibility by the government of leading the interministerial committee in charge of organizing the state funeral for the late former president Daniel Moi in 2020.
It has been a humble journey, Kinyua stated in his final speech as the office holder on Thursday.
He was grateful that Ruto and the previous presidents had given him the opportunity to work for them.
