According to George Muragara, chairperson of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) of the National Assembly, Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) are not state officers, in contrast to Cabinet Secretaries (CS) and Principal Secretaries (PS).
During a panel discussion on Citizen TV's Daybreak show, Muragara stated that Parliament changed the previous bill that would have classed CASs as State officers.
"CSs and PSs are State officers; these(CASs) are not State officers. Per se, they are public officers," he said.
The Chair of the JLAC stated that CASs will not testify before Parliament because the latter believes they are not accountable for that.
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He said that although the CSs will assign responsibilities to the CASs, those responsibilities will not include testifying before Parliament.
They're going to help the CS. That's the primary purpose, according to Muragara.
He mentioned how this would help ministers eliminate some of their responsibilities and free up time to respond to calls to Parliament.
According to him, the CS and PS will occupy a higher position in the hierarchy than the CAS.
"CS and PS will be at the top of the hierarchy, and they will follow down there." He continued.
His comments follow the High Court's ruling in July 2023 that President Ruto's attempt to name 50 CASs was unconstitutional.
In a report on the proposed amendment to several laws, the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee states that creating the CAS office was essential.
On Wednesday, March 12, the Committee released its recommendations, stating that it had approved the National Government Coordination Act 2013 provisions of the bill, subject to the suggested amendments listed in the schedule of amendments.
