Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi has defended President William Ruto's decision to have Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS).
This is after Ruto launched a fresh bid to reintroduce the post that was nullified by the High Court on July 4.
According to Elachi, for Ministries to work effectively, the Cabinet Secretaries must have assistants, who can perform their duties, when they are away for other official duties.
"In fairness for the country and service delivery, and ensuring those ministries can function in the right way, you need a deputy to have a clear role. Look at our Environment CS, she will need a deputy because in most meetings she is out of the country.
"She has to go because she is supposed to give our stand as Kenya and what we want to see on issues of climate change and so you need a deputy to follow on other issues in the ministry," she said on K24 TV.
Elachi noted that some CSs have up to three Principal Secretaries reporting to them, which is why they need assistants to help them with their duties.
The MP who is also a former CAS said the issue of money should not be cited as a hindrance.
She said if the jobs are created, the CASs will pay taxes to the government which will help in building the economy.
Elachi was reacting to a move by the government through Majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah that is seeking to entrench the positions in law through an act of Parliament.
Ichung'wah has proposed amendments to the National Government Coordination Act, 2013 to align the position with the judgment of the court.
However, this now means that the appointment process will be more rigorous, including parliamentary vetting.
“There is established office of the Chief Administrative Secretary which shall be an office in the public service,” reads the National Government Administrative Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
“The President shall, on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission and approval of the National Assembly, appoint Chief Administrative Secretaries.”
The Bill however leaves it to the Public Service Commission to determine the number of people to be nominated for the job.
Ruto had appointed 50 CASs, triggering a public uproar over the wage bill.
The High Court soon ended celebrations for the appointees and outlined a tedious legal process to correct the errors.
