When you see MPs pass a bill and appear to put a cap on it, and later on appear to be flexible to give the President a free hand to choose any number of appointees, it tells you there is a hidden hand behind the machinations.
It is, indeed, apparent the government is going slow on the quest for Chief Administrative Secretaries.
Under the circumstances we find ourselves, the options are limited. The President may be torn between rewarding his friends and tackling the economy, which, despite showing signs of easing inflation, is yet to get out of the woods.
There is no job in government that ought to be done and which has not been carried out.
Those of us who were at Bomas of Kenya for the constitution review removed assistant ministers after several former assistant ministers admitted that they were mostly idle.
The assistant ministers felt they were part of a bureaucracy that was using state resources yet giving nothing back in return. Former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile [deceased] admitted that he was collecting a salary for doing nothing.
The Chief Administrative Secretary post is a superfluous post and serves no purpose.
The way it is ranked as superior to Principal Secretaries tells you it is largely a political issue. Principal Secretaries are already playing the roles proposed for the CASs.
Without much ado, the President should come out and denounce the bill and say that he has nothing to do with the position.
He cannot suggest, through the National Treasury, that he wants to tax bread and milk to pay CASs whom he knows will be doing nothing.
We want him to publicly denounce this bill and disassociate himself from any attempts to create the posts now and in future.
The post of CAS has been rejected by Kenyans, stakeholders and the courts in their candid interpretation of the Constitution and other laws governing the creation of public and state offices.
Executive director of Kenya National Civil Society Centre spoke to the Star
