Ruto wants the position of chief administrative secretary (CAS) to be anchored in law.
He has sent an amendment to parliament to change the National Government Administration Law. If passed by the lawmakers, it will establish and better define the role of a CAS.
Ruto’s coalition Kenya Kwanza has the majority in parliament with 179 MPs, while the opposition coalition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya has 157.
While tabling the bill to lawmakers last week, majority leader of the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wah said the government is keen to properly formalise the positions within the law.
“We want this bill passed to entrench chief administrative secretaries as public officers,” he said.
The Treasury is saying the country is broke. Why create more positions that will burden Kenyans to pay their salaries?
According to the proposals, there will be an appointment process that will be handled by the Public Service Commission.
To qualify, the candidates will be required to have public service experience and meet requirements of chapter six of the constitution.
Those requirements include being persons of integrity, being objective, and impartiality in ensuring that decisions are not influenced by nepotism, favouritism, and other improper motives.
Successful candidates will be formally appointed by the president, and later approved by the parliament.
Mixed reactions
Religious leaders have opposed the proposals, saying the move is ill-timed.
According to Reverend Canon Chris Kinyanjui, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the bill should not sail through because of the current state of the economy.
“The Treasury is saying the country is broke. Why create more positions that will burden Kenyans to pay their salaries?” he said, adding that Kenyans are tired of increased taxes.
NCCK opposes CAS positions:
NCCK opposes creation of CAS positions. NCCK says move will badly affect the economy.
Kinyanjui: We urge parliament to shelve CAS bill #CitizenBriefs @VickyRubadiri pic.twitter.com/dK5ZdLokPc
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) December 7, 2023
Beatrice Elachi, an opposition lawmaker who served as a CAS during the government of former president Uhuru Kenyatta, said she will support the proposals in parliament.
She insisted that Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) need assistants who can keep up with duties when the boss is away, adding that there are fiscal benefits too.
“These CASs will get salaries and therefore pay taxes, so we are creating a larger tax base,” she said during an interview with K24 television.
Elachi said money should not be a reason to do away with the positions.
Hon. Beatrice Elachi: If the CAS get salaries they will pay taxes, in fact we are creating more base of tax to go back to the government because they will employ others.#NewDawn pic.twitter.com/Pn6l5sf6xo
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) December 7, 2023
Bashir Abdullahi, another lawmaker, says he will only support the proposals if Kenyans will have a say through a referendum.
Brian Wanyama, a political analyst, says Ruto is desperate to reward his political allies who failed to clinch political seats during the 2022 election.
“Ruto is still under pressure from poll losers who supported him. They want to be rewarded,” Wanyama tells The Africa Report, warning that the move will make Ruto more unpopular ahead of 2027 polls.
Carol Mutai, a mother of three, owns a small shop in Kericho, Ruto’s political stronghold.
She says she voted for him, but is opposed to the creation of CASs as the government has lost focus.
“Ruto promised to uplift the ordinary Kenyans economically. He is now focused on rewarding his political friends. I regret supporting him,” she said.
Unconstitutional positions
In July, the High Court in Nairobi dealt Ruto a blow when it ruled that the creation of the CAS positions was unconstitutional.
The Law Society of Kenya and Katiba Institute, a civil society group, had filed a successful petition challenging the appointment process.
At that time, the petitioners also urged that the positions were unlawful, and there was no public participation in the exercise in accordance with the constitution.
They also argued that the creation of the CAS post would cause financial strain on the country.
Before the ruling, Ruto had appointed 50 CASs in March and had them sworn in.
The CAS position was initially created by former president Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 to reward political allies who had supported his presidential bid.
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