Cabinet’s Secretary Offers Ruto Powers Similar to Museveni’s
Mercy Wanjau, the Secretary to the Cabinet, has suggested relocating the duties of overseeing the Public Seal from the Attorney General’s office to the Office of the President.
During her testimony before a combined committee of the National Assembly on Monday, Wanjau expressed the view that the national symbol, currently under the jurisdiction of Attorney General Justin Muturi, should be entrusted to the President.
Wanjau, while presenting her views on the National Government Administration Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, highlighted that Kenya had transitioned to a fully presidential system. As a result, she emphasized the importance of assigning custodial responsibilities to the President.
Conversely, she explained that in numerous nations within the area, the presidents were responsible for safeguarding the national symbols featured on official government papers.
“She told the Committee that practice in other jurisdictions has it that the President is the sole custodian of the Public Seal. She cited the example of Uganda, Tanzania, and Seychelles, where the head of state is the custodian, but can appoint a person holding service, to act as the custodian, while giving directions as to the manner it will be kept and used,” read the report of Parliament in part.
Nevertheless, she pointed out that the authority to delegate custodial responsibilities to another individual could lie within the President’s purview.
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“She emphasized that even with the proposed change effected, the AG would remain a user of the seal, adding that there would be a broad guideline on its use. Currently, the custody of the seal of the Government of Kenya is with the Attorney General.
“Wanjau also proposed an enactment of the Public Seal Act, to pave the way for the development of regulations governing the description, design, use, custody, authentication, restriction, and display thereof,” the report added.
Alternatively, different leaders put forward alternative suggestions to the bill that aims to reorganize fundamental aspects of the government, including the Executive branch.
Significantly, there are suggestions to incorporate the debated Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) position into the current framework of the Executive.
As per the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), the suggestions aim to delineate specific job responsibilities for CASs who were previously prohibited from entering the office by the High Court. The court invalidated the roles, rendering them null and void.
SRC mentioned that incorporating the remuneration package into the current framework would facilitate the process of establishing it for the office.
Cabinet’s Secretary Offers Ruto Powers Similar to Museveni’s