Senate Majority Whip, Boni Khalwale, on Wednesday, February 22, claimed to be aware of the formula President William Ruto would use to appoint Cabinet Assistant Secretaries (CASs).
While appearing at K24 TV’s New Dawn breakfast show, the Kakamega senator further downplayed the role of the Public Service Commission (PSC) in the appointing process.
Ruto, Khalwale claimed, has the power to ignore recommendations made by the PSC.
“If the President wants to appoint a candidate, he will do so, he does not need advice from PSC on who is capable of delivering.
“Probably, he has already made up his mind about who should be on the list,” Khalwale remarked.
PSC, on Wednesday, February 22, released an updated list of 240 candidates who will be interviewed for the CASs positions.
Khalwale, however, remarked that the interviews slated to start on March 1, are a mere formality as the President already had his preferred candidates.
The PSC further called for public participation by stating, “Members of the public are invited to avail any credible information of interest related to any of the shortlisted candidates before February 26.”
According to Khalwale, the PSC does not have the power to call for public participation, and any information collected can be disregarded by the President.
“If there was a need for public participation, it should have preceded where we are now.
“The PSC could have been allowed to conduct such an exercise if the President was creating new offices and they would have no say whom the President appointed in the created offices,” Khalwale remarked.
The High Court, on April 20, 2021, declared that creating the office of CAS was unconstitutional since PSC did not competitively recruit the candidates.
On February 16, 2023, Ruto was handed a reprieve by the Employment and Labour Relations Court, which declared the establishment of the office of CAS constitutional.
The court ruled that the PSC had followed due process in initiating the recruitment of CASs.
