Ruto’s focus to shift to PS positions after cabinet appointments
Following the successful appointment of the cabinet, President William Ruto’s focus now shifts to the proposed Principal Secretaries, as he constitutes his administration.
The President will choose 50 candidates for appointment as Principal Secretaries from a list of 250 names presented to him by the Public Service Commission after interviews, subject to confirmation by the National Assembly.
9,154 persons had applied for the Principal Secretary jobs. The public service commission cut the list of applicants and settled on a shortlist of 477 candidates that a day later rose to 585.
The President issued his first executive order detailing the structure of his administration two weeks prior. It listed 21 ministries, the State Law Office, which is overseen by the Attorney General, and State departments inside each ministry.
Depending on the size and role of the dockets, certain ministries have multiple state departments. For instance, the National Treasury and Planning, has two state departments, whereas the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, has three state departments.
The nominees will be examined by the appropriate departmental House Committees to determine if the President should appoint them. The 13th Parliament has 44 committees, including 24 select committees and 20 departmental committees. There are 11 more House Committees in the current Parliament compared to the 12th parliament.
According to the Standing Orders, the National Assembly is anticipated to approve the appointment of members to certain House committees. To finalise the list of members for the various committees in accordance with Standing Orders 172 and 173 of the National Assembly, the Selection Committee, presided over by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa, convened on Wednesday evening.
Today, Kenya Kwanza is expected to iron out the impasse facing the selection of chairpersons to the crucial Administration and National Security, Energy, Blue Economy, Transport, and Mining House Committees.