Bespectacled, plain-spoken and Oxford-educated, Dr David Ndii has lower the determine of a classy and revered economist for greater than 20 years since he first got here into the general public highlight.
His agency grasp of financial issues has seen him function an financial advisor within the Narc authorities, as financial advisor to Azimio chief Raila Odinga, and as a advisor to worldwide growth establishments and main firms at native, regional and even worldwide ranges.
But since becoming a member of the ranks of President William Ruto’s authorities as half of his financial think-tank and later as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, a brand new model of Dr Ndii has emerged.
The self-proclaimed ‘public mental’, who has grow to be the voice and face of President Ruto’s authorities’s financial technique, is pulling no punches.
Despite being a public servant paid by taxpayers, his vulgar and sometimes insulting language and know-it-all perspective has painted an image of a person who has no time for these much less educated than himself.
His actions on X, previously Twitter, and his different public pronouncements have revealed the manner of a single-minded man unwilling to endure fools gladly.
The financial czar of Kenya Kwanza’s administration has displayed a cynical perspective in the direction of overburdened taxpayers in search of a ray of hope.
The acclaimed scholar is now well-known, or notorious, for talking his thoughts with out regard to political sensitivities, rapidly turning into a gadfly.
Ndii has been concerned in quite a few spats on social media over the federal government’s insurance policies and techniques.
Courting controversy with each tweet, the 57-year-old has been nonchalant in his responses to Kenyans looking for solutions from the federal government over the rising value of dwelling and tax burden.
In February, a Kenyan requested him why he had not known as out the present regime for borrowing and pointless spending, to which he rudely replied: “What do you want, lullabies?”
This was after re-tweeting a tweet through which he had warned that the Jubilee authorities’s borrowing and spending spree would finish in tears.
On March 18, 2023, a Kenyan questioned his declare that Sh450 million to be spent on CASs was peanuts, saying the cash might construct many school rooms for junior secondary college learners, to which Ndii replied: “And the classrooms will campaign for us in the next elections?”
Responding to anti-government protests on July 13, 2023, Ndii stated: “We are not budging. Overthrow the government if you are [can], otherwise wait for elections.”
On September 14 this 12 months, he tweeted: “This expectation that Kenya can abuse credit for a decade and the same people can make the consequences go away painlessly just because there was a game of musical chairs we call elections? Are we sober? I told you two years ago Kenya was in receivership. Nothing has changed.”
The tweet is claimed to have left key coalition figures cringing, questioning if he’s undermining the federal government from inside or signalling an impending exit.
But that was not all. A Kenyan reminded him that the President and his deputy had stated through the election marketing campaign that they knew the place the economic system was hurting and that Kenyans would give them good testimonies once they marked 100 days in workplace. The Kenyan then requested what went flawed after they got here to energy.
But his response was so brutal and terse: “And you believed them?”
He upped the ante on October 7 when he went bare-knuckle on DP Rigathi Gachagua over his spat with Public Service CS Moses Kuria.
“Factory settings (Chairman, Nyeri District University Students Association (NDUSA), Oyugi Special DO, Uhuru PA etc. etc.,” he tweeted.
He went on to say: “I’m the President’s advisor. I’m not part of the government hierarchy. But at any rate, if the President were to go rogue, I would call him out also. That’s my responsibility to myself.”
Asked why the federal government has taken so lengthy to sort out the nation’s debt disaster, he stated his job was not a profession place however a political deal he struck with President Ruto three years in the past to assist him if he received the presidency.
“I am in government only to keep my end of the bargain. As long as that’s working, what the rest of you think or feel is inconsequential,” he tweeted on October 21, 2023.
On October 25, 2023, he added: “The choices were made. You said no pain no gain as Uhuru was borrowing recklessly. Now it’s payback time.”
After posting the previous regime’s debt legacy nightmare, a Kenyan requested him why he didn’t embody the Sh1.3 trillion already borrowed by the Kenya Kwanza authorities.
“Yes, the same Sh1.3 trillion 2023 repayment in the chart. Kondoo,” posted Ndii on October 29, 2023.
On November 5, 2023, he was at it once more, saying: “Wewe ni kondoo wa wapi? Husikii ushuru ni ya kulipa madeni? (You are a sheep from what area? Have you not heard that taxes are for paying money owed?)”
The tirade continued: “I’m paid to advise the President. Since you are not the President, what I tell you is unpaid.”
“Wewe shinda ni uhafamu au ni kurogwa. How many occasions do I’ve to say that the worth of irresponsible borrowing must be paid? You know that when you default in your money owed you may be auctioned. Pay or public sale.”
Four days later, the Kiambu native went hammer and tongs on an X consumer who questioned his psychological capability.
“Who you believe reflects your mental faculties. You are the type who believes Pastor Ezekiel.”
On November 26, 2023, he was at it once more: “You had a chance to elect Wajackoyah and blew it. Now we would all be high without a care in the world. Eat your tomatoes.”
On December 15, Pauline Njoroge questioned why a litre of petrol was promoting for Sh159 a litre at a time when crude oil was promoting for $122 per barrel, however the identical petrol now prices Sh213 a litre when crude oil goes for $69 per barrel.
Ndii didn’t take the criticism mendacity down and responded with expletives.
On December 19, a Kenyan challenged Ndii over his submit on unfunded street contracts, pending payments and the Euro Bond, saying Dr Ruto had defended the identical when he served within the earlier administration.
He replied: “So? What does that change? If Kenyans wanted a clean break they had Wajackoyah and Mwaura on the ballot. But they divided 97 per cent of votes between the two sides of Jubilee. You make the bed, you lie on it.”
On December 20, a Kenyan requested the adviser why the president had didn’t fulfil his marketing campaign guarantees. He replied: “I am not William Ruto’s keeper.”
Ekuru Aukot, the chief of the Thirdway Alliance occasion, described Ndii as a ‘desperado’ who has discovered himself working for a regime that doesn’t care and whose vanity reveals who he actually is.
“He epitomises the character and the soul of the current government. The president would have reprimanded him by now but how can he when his own style of leadership is a reflection of those he [puts in] office?”
He added that Ndii had resorted to insults as a result of he was being uncovered by questions on the efficiency of the economic system, arguing that Ndii is a “book [economist] and not a practical economist”.
“Being a public servant does not mean you insulate yourself from criticism,” Dr Aukot added.
Political and governance commentator, Samuel Okuro, agreed with Aukot’s assertions, saying Ndii is an overrated one who doesn’t deserve the place he presently holds.
“He speaks in a extra pedestrian method that doesn’t encourage mental discourse. He is only a extremely rated economist on social media, however in relation to translating idea to apply, he doesn’t have the grasp,” stated Dr Okuro, a senior lecturer at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology.
He added that Ndii “is simply good at announcing financial theories with none utility of the theories within the operating of the federal government.”
