Duncan ndegwa biography

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“Similarly we need to take note of times when we have taken the right decisions so that we reap more from some choices we made in our past.”

In the book Boy from Chorong’i, where Mr Ndegwa shows he was born to ordinary folk, young people will find inspiration that one does not need to be born into advantage to serve in crucial dockets in government or private sector.

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Mr Ndegwa encourages Kenyans, especially university students, to read his books which offer meaningful lessons that could take the country to higher levels.

Dr Njoroge paid tribute to the former Central Bank Governor for inspiring young people and Kenyans in general through his well-researched books.

He also said Mr Ndegwa was behind the transformation and modernisation of the Central Bank of Kenya whose contribution was still benefiting the country to date.

Dr Njoroge underscored the place of professionalism and proper vision in the management of the country, saying this was a big challenge in both public and private sectors.

Besides land transfers, Ndegwa also coordinated all Cabinet affairs with all the challenges of learning on the job. Once again, freedom-the freedom to run a depoliticized economy in which all people had equal opportunities and fair access –had to be fought for and protected.

The struggles to emancipate Kenya from the York of systems that are oppressive and prejudicial to the majority, are struggles that Mr.  Ndegwa has witnessed, studied and engaged for many years.

It is a group of distinguished personalities who are drawn from all corners of the world and are dedicated to leveraging global support for, and strengthening the performance of, sound international finance institutions such as the African Development Bank and the World.
Beyond the growth of his own private enterprise and his contribution to global networks for the promotion of international economic cooperation, Mr.Ndegwa has always shown extraordinary talent for mobilizing community enterprise.

For two years until 1966, Ndegwa oversaw the transition from the colonial civil service to one under an independent nation, Ellerton lending his experienced hand here and there.

Ndegwa’s milestones include Africanising Kenya’s Civil Service by training and matching relevant experience and skills while absorbing educated returnees from the ‘Airlift’ studies program from America into key positions in government ministries and parastatals.

As a British colony then, Kenyans were used to the British pounds.

He revealed that the government was dealing with budget of deficit through the printing of paper money rather than by containing public expenditure. Ndegwa left the Civil Service when he was appointed the first head of Kenya’s Central Bank in 1966.

His major challenges include dealing with a Cabinet brimming with competing and differing regional interests while tackling shortcoming of groping civil servants and learning the ropes.

Duncan Ndegwa Age

Duncan was born on 11 March 1925 in Nyeri County, Kenya, he is 94 years of age as of 2019.

Duncan Ndegwa Wife And Children

This information is still under review and will be updated soon.

Duncan Ndegwa Education Background

Undergraduate student at the University of St.

Andrews, Scotland.

Undergraduate student at Makerere University College in Uganda.

Secondary school student at Alliance High School in Kikuyu.

Duncan Ndegwa Job History

1967-1982: Appointed as the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya. The vision of the Trust is centered on the reinstituting memory, building heritage sites and reviving positive cultural values and wholesome identity.

He served in the interim Committee of the World Bank and was an Alternate Governor of the IMF. In this time, the IMF reviewed the International Economic Order culminating in the demonetization of the Gold Standard to the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) basket of currencies. Mr. Ndegwa was being proved right –freedom of choice was being constrained by the weight of paper money.

Before that, he had been appointed to serve as a Statistical Officer with the East African High Commission. The institute needed land, physical infrastructure, staff, equipment and capital.
 Above all, Mr. Ndegwa was part of the team that foresaw the need for the Kimathi Institute of Technology to be financially  sustainable and was instrumental in obtaining  an executive  order from First President of the Republic of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, for the  purchase of  European farm, 600-acre farm with mature coffee which  became  the cornerstone of the Institute’s  steady growth, which  now boasts of proud status  of a fully-fledged university with a charter.

Enterprise and Risk.

This account of Mr.

Ndegwa’s contribution to making Kenya a stable economy, with a self –worthy, skilled and better educated human resource base would not be complete without a mention of his remarkable business acumen and his capacity for calculated risk.
As Chairman of Unga group limited, he sterred the company through the turbulent economic climate of the 1980s and 1990s.

He remains a member of the Commonwealth Golf Society and the Senior Golfers Society and regularly participates in their international tours.
Mr. Together they leveraged numerous local and international networks. Mr. Ndegwa was clear that such a high-stakes political game with such unscrupulous behavior encouraged by financial profligacy would unleash what he termed “a host of evils, including unauthorized taxation, inflationary forces and an attack on the poor and unemployed”.
Within a year of his warning, it was evident to all that Kenya had too much money chasing too few good.

UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS ),FCIB, DIP(MAKERERE COLLEGE), E.G.H.

On this 3rd Graduation Ceremony of Dedan Kimathi university of Technology, the senate of the university, under powers conferred on it by Article 20 (3) (j) of Dedan kimathi University of Technology Charter, and in compliance with the commission for University Education (CUE) standard and guidelines for honorary degrees, has determined that Mr.

Duncan Ndegwa  be awarded the Doctor  of Business Administration (honoris causa) degree. Indeed, amongst Mr. Ndegwa’s key contributions to Kenya was the rapid and smooth Africanization of The Civil Service and re-engineering it to serve the good common Kenyans.

In 1967, after three and a half years as President Jomo Kenyatta’s advisor, Permanent Secretary, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service, Mr.

Ndegwa took up the challenge of transforming the country’s monetary and fiscal systems from the East Africa Currency Board to the Central bank of Kenya (CBK). The books –  Moi’s Kleptocracy and its Spillovers, Boy From Chorong’i,  The Traditions, Culture and Beliefs of the Agikuyu and The Lineage of Aceera of Ndegwa Wahome Clan – were launched on Friday at the Continental Resort in Mombasa.

Mr Ndegwa is a long-serving public servant who became President Jomo Kenyatta’s Head of the Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet.

Indeed , the vision  of this Trust has congruity with some of the  strategic goals  of  Dedan Kimathi University  of Technology , a place that will forever  commemorate the face of liberation and the dream “one flag, one nation, one country” that the founding fathers and mothers of Kenya envisioned; a dream for which they sacrificed life, limb and property.

Final Proclamation.

The vision that Mr.

Duncan Nderitu Ndegwa had for a sovereign monetary system is the same clear foresight that he had for an institution of higher learning that would contribute to transformation of livelihoods of thousands of Kenyans. He brought to an end the preserve of the European prejudice without compromising the rules of the game or the etiquette between players. In reviewing policy briefs for cabinet meetings, Mr.

Ndegwa could identify strategies that would be valuable in particular regions and  evaluate goals that would be achievable, in the very short space of time that the first independent government had, to attain racial equality and to secure improved livelihoods for the people of Kenya. It is a great honour to our University and to the Current and future graduands that Mr.

Ndegwa has accepted this Award, thereby becoming the second person to receive a honorary degree from Dedan kimathi university of Technology.

The Beginning of a journey.

Mr. We have learnt from Duncan Ndegwa, who is a selfless change agent, how to manage public resources and how to steer institutions with principles of good governance and accountability that can stand the test of time and enrich Kenya for posterity.

For his pioneering   services to the people of Kenya, his visionary role in the production of knowledge on organizational structure, human resource management, colonial history and cultural memory ; for his outstanding community service and contribution to securing the livelihoods of thousands of young Kenyans; for his exceptional business skills, his expansion of the banking sector, his vigilance over fiscal policy and the growth of country’s economy, Duncun Ndegwa has proved that he is, truly an incisive mind.