Nairobi, Kenya: In a departure from the past, the Jubilee Cabinet, which is likely to be unveiled today, stands out from all the others in Kenya’s post independence history.
The country’s fourth President, Uhuru Kenyatta, is supposed to name the 22-member Cabinet today, following his swearing-in ceremony at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani yesterday.
And right from the change of name from Ministers to Cabinet Secretaries, those to be named in the cabinet will hold no elective political positions. If the President choses to nominate an elected leader as a Cabinet Secretary, he or she will be required to resign from the post before being considered for the new position.
Those nominated by the President as Cabinet Secretaries will have to be vetted and approved by the National Assembly before they are sworn in. In the past when one was named a minister, they assumed office after being sworn in. The law required that Cabinet Ministers had to be Members of Parliament.
The Cabinet Secretaries have to conform to Chapter six of the Constitution like all other state officers. This will form part of the benchmarks which will be used during the vetting process by Parliament.
Newly elected speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Muturi notes that the grilling of Cabinet Secretaries will be carried out by the Parliamentary Committees.
Approval by the National Assembly is crucial when it comes to ensuring the quality and ability of those appointed to perform in the interest of the country
“In the previous regimes where the President had powers to appoint whoever he or she wished, such powers would be abused, leading to inept appointments,” points out former Assistant minister Dr Joseph Misoi.
The era where a single minister in a ministry could have an upward of two to three assistant ministers is also gone. Every Cabinet Secretary will have one assistant.
Principal Secretaries in the ministries (equivalent) of Permanent Secretaries (PS), will not be named alongside cabinet secretaries by Uhuru as had been tradition with past cabinet appointments. They would instead be appointed through a competitive process, the jobs having been advertised by the Public Service Commission before the March 4 General Election.
The President is, therefore, expected to nominate a person for appointment as Principal Secretary from among persons to be recommended or who have been recommended by the Public Service Commission.
Assumption to the Office of the President Committee presented the Jubilee team a government structure of 21 ministries. Uhuru and his Deputy William Ruto, however, have the latitude to create one more ministry.
According to the committee’s list, the Ministry of Internal Security and Defence will be merged into the Ministry of National Security while Agriculture brings together five other ministries to form the single largest portfolio.
Others are Finance and Planning that will become one, while Roads, Housing and Public Works will equally become one.
Also to be created will be the Ministry of Devolution and County Governments that will include the former Local Government, Nairobi Metropolitan, Northern Kenya and Regional Development ministries.
The ministries of Energy, Education, Health, Justice, Tourism, Transport and Information and Communication will retain their identity.
The Kibaki government, whose tenure came to an end yesterday after the swearing in of Uhuru, had 42 ministers.
Economic experts have in the past been pushing for the reduction of ministries, arguing funds meant to sustain such ministries could be channelled for development purposes.
For example, after the formation of the Grand Coalition Government in 2008, some ministries were divided into two, to create more slots for cabinet appointments, leading to some ministers leading mere departments.
Among some of the ministries that had been split included Lands and Housing, Agriculture and Livestock, Trade and Industry, Roads and Public Works.
One distinct feature of the incoming cabinet is that because members will not be elected MPs, they will not be sitting in Parliament to answer to questions from MPs as has been the case before.
Previously, Cabinet ministers were also MPs and they represented the Executive in Parliament, therefore they responded to questions and also delivered Government statement solicited or otherwise.
In the current Parliament, instead of ministers, Committee chairmen or designated members would be tasked with initiating debates on Government Bills or Motions.
“When the Cabinet was part of Parliament it was the responsibility of Cabinet Ministers to move Government Bills, but now it would be upon the committee chairmen to take up this responsibility,” Muturi noted.
The Cabinet secretaries, under the Constitution, are expected to formulate and drive government policy and at the same time supervise various government departments under principal secretaries.
A member of the National Assembly, supported by at least one-quarter of all the members of the assembly, may propose a motion requiring the President to dismiss a Cabinet Secretary— on the ground of a gross violation of a provision of the Constitution or of any other law.
It can also be in a situation where there are serious reasons for believing that the Cabinet Secretary has committed a crime under national or international law or for gross misconduct.
But the irony of it all is that while the President can sack a cabinet secretary from his cabinet, he cannot dismiss his deputy who is protected by the Constitution, from the same cabinet.
The President and his deputy can, however, only be removed from office through impeachment by the Senate, in a process that has to originate from Parliament.
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