The High Court this week declared the position of the Chief Administrative Secretary unconstitutional and subsequently declared their appointment null and void.
It now emerges that taxpayers have been paying the more than 42 CASs for being in office illegally.
The ruling brings to the fore various actions by the Jubilee administration that have been ruled as null and void raising the question whether the government through its chief legal advisor, the Attorney General, acts based on law or political whims.
Among other state actions that the courts have faulted include the anti-terrorism law whose large sections, among them one that allowed media houses to be punished for publishing material likely to "cause fear or alarm", were declared null and void.
The court also recently declared the planned closure of the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps illegal.
Others that come to mind are the decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta not to swear-in 42 new judges, and the two-third gender rule, rulings that the government blatantly ignored.
Individuals and organisations have been awarded hefty sums for wrong actions taken by the government, further straining an already overtaxed citizenry.
The government must carefully weigh its actions and decisions to ensure that they end up not going against the letter and the spirit of the law.
The AG and others tasked with advising the government must not fear telling the President and others charged with decision-making the truth when it comes to actions that require legal advice.
Quote of the Day: "Subtlety may deceive you; integrity never will."
Oliver Cromwell
The English military and political leader was born on April 25, 1599.
