President William Ruto on Wednesday, March 22, formally appointed all 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) to their respective positions.
In a statement issued by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, the appointment came after National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula rejected the invitation to vet CAS nominees as it's not provided for by the Constitution.
In a memorandum, Speaker Wetangula noted that Parliament was unable to discharge a role that is not enshrined in the Constitution or any written law.
“The obligation to respect, uphold and defend the Constitution enjoins the House to refrain from assuming and discharging a role that it has not been expressly assigned by the Constitution or written law. In that regard, the National Assembly is unable to vet the nominees in the absence of an express constitutional or statutory requirement to do so," the memorandum read in part.
Owing to the decision made by the speaker, the president appointed the nominees to the various ministries.
"As a consequence of the referral by the Speaker of the National Assembly which has found that there is no constitutional or statutory basis upon which the August House can vet the nominees, the Head of State and Government has on March 22, 2023, caused the appointment of the nominees to various Ministries as earlier notified.
"To facilitate the ascension of the Chief Administrative Secretaries to Office, the State Appointees are now scheduled to subscribe to their solemn Oath of Office," the statement read in part.
The nominations list elicited debate as some critics argued that the positions exceeded those appointed under former President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime.
In their defence, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua argued that the Kenya Kwanza administration required a bigger team in order to fulfill its mandate.
“This country has a lot of work of reviving the economy and that is why the government needs a big team that will be dispersed across the world to look for the markets of our products,” Gachagua stated during a joint media interview on Friday, March 17, 2023.
The role of the CASs, according to the Public Service Commission (PSC), is to liaise with county governments on matters regarding interministerial duties.
"A Chief Administrative Secretary will be responsible to the Cabinet Secretary in performing his/her duties. Specific duties and responsibilities shall include representing the Cabinet Secretary at any meeting as instructed by the Cabinet Secretary," the statement read in part.
Among those nominated for the CAS positions, Millicent Omanga was appointed as Interior CAS, while Cate Waruguru was in the Foreign Affairs docket. Other names include Wilson Sossion, Kimani Ngunjiri, Dennis Itumbi, Margaret Wanjiru and Evans Kidero.
After the nomination of the 50 CASs, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) threatened to file a petition, challenging the decision.
“What the President did is breaking the law. We will be in court...when we were in court PSC said they wanted to create 23 positions under the public participation and that was the maximum, we wonder why the President chose to nominate 50...this for us is politically motivated and not following the law,” LSK President Eric Theuri stated.
