CAS Position Constitutional – Gladys Boss Shollei

Uasin Gishu County Woman Member of Parliament Gladys Boss Shollei has defended the planned retaining of the Chief Administrative Secretary position.

The CAS position was first created by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, but the courts declared them unconstitutional.

Despite the court order, those named CAS went ahead to serve in their respective positions.

With the new administration in place, the Public Service Commission (PSC) put up a notice asking members of the public to submit their views in regard to the position.

PSC, in the notice, indicated that President William Ruto will be retaining the position, but interested candidates will be required to apply – rather than the previous case where appointments were made directly by the President.

Already, the seats have been declared vacant and interested candidates asked to apply.

Duplication of roles

However, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has moved to the Employment and Labour Court to challenge the decision, claiming the possibility of the duplicity of roles between the Principal Secretary and the CAS.

But according to the National Assembly Deputy Speaker, the positions are constitutional as the current administration has aligned them with the court ruling.

“The court said the previous appointment was not done in the proper way and it gave clear instructions on how to make it legitimate,” Shollei said.

“It said public participation was not done and people were not allowed to apply but these are the things that have been fixed,” she added.

The County MP insists that the retired President failed to follow the law but under the current administration, candidates will be recruited through the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Following the LSK case against CAS positions, the court issued a temporary order stopping PSC from recruiting individuals for the positions.

The commission however told members of the public that they were still receiving applications for the positions and that the advertisement had not been cancelled as widely thought.

“Contrary to public speculation, the Commission has not cancelled the advert for recruitment of Chief Administrative Secretary,” PSC Chief Executive Officer  Simon Rotich said in a statement last week.