Mbadi Picks NIS Director Naphtaly Rono to Head Financial Reporting Centre

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has nominated a senior spy agency boss as the next Director General of the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC).

Mbadi picked lawyer Naphtaly Rono, who will replace his spy colleague Saitoti Maika, who has served his full term.

Rono is currently the head of legal affairs at the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

The name was sent to the National Assembly last week for vetting, but will have to wait a little bit longer as MPs have proceeded to their Christmas break and are expected to resume sittings in February next year.

“The Cabinet Secretary conveys that in exercise of powers conferred by section 25(2) of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, Cap. 59A, he has nominated Naphtaly Kipchirchir Rono for appointment as the Director-General of the FRC, and now seeks the approval of the House,” House Speaker Moses Wetang’ula announced last Wednesday.

The law requires the Committee to which such a nomination is referred to consider the matter and table a report in the House within twenty-eight (28) days, but the speaker has deferred the statutory timelines to next year.

“Nonetheless, conscious of the fact that the House is scheduled to proceed for the long recess from Friday, 5th December 2025, I hasten to clarify that the counting of days with respect to the consideration of the nominee will cease during the recess period and resume when the House first sits upon resumption.”

The Speaker directed the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning to proceed with the public vetting, but will only table the report to the house next year.

“However, Honourable Members, I urge the Committee to immediately commence the approval process and notify the nominee and the general public of the time and place for holding the approval hearing and thereafter, table its report on or before Thursday, February 26, 2026, to enable the House to consider the matter within the stated statutory timelines.”

If approved by MPs, Rono will be tasked with the responsibility of addressing concerns raised about Kenya’s financial transactions that have left the country on the grey list despite key reforms.

Grey-listing means the country is under increased monitoring and is working with the FATF to address its inability to counter money laundering and terror financing using existing laws, policies and strategies.

It adversely impacts Kenya’s investment attractiveness and undermines its credibility as a reliable regional partner.

On 17 June 2025, President William Ruto signed the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism Financing Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025, into law.

The act is intended to address deficiencies in Kenya’s money laundering and terrorism financing framework as identified by the FATF, the global watchdog for these crimes.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) failed to remove Kenya from the list in October at the end of a plenary meeting, while removing Africa’s first and second biggest economies of South Africa and Nigeria.

The Task Force its report of 17th March 2025 indicated that Kenya has made progress in resolving some of the technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2022 Mutual Evaluation Report.

However, despite the positive reports, Kenya remains under active watch, having been included in the grey list alongside Namibia on February 24, 2024, after a ten-year hiatus.

The Task Force its report of March 17, 2025, indicated that Kenya has made progress in resolving some of the technical compliance shortcomings identified in its 2022 Mutual Evaluation Report.

However, despite the positive reports, Kenya remains under active watch, having been included in the grey list alongside Namibia on February 24 2024, after a ten-year hiatus.