Wetangula rules position of Prime Cabinet Secretary as constitutionally legal
The post of Prime Cabinet Secretary, which Mudavadi is slated to fill if he passes vetting, has been pronounced constitutional by the Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairman of the Appointments Committee Moses Wetangula.
Wetangula was responding to issues about the position’s constitutionality voiced by Opiyo Wandayi, the leader of the minority party.
Wetangula alluded to the constitution and defended President William Ruto’s establishment of the office, claiming that he was acting within the parameters of the law, which provides for a maximum of 22 ministries under Article 152 and a minimum of 14.
“It is notable that in compliance with the provisions of Article 152 (1) (d), the President nominated 22 Cabinet Secretaries among them being the Prime Cabinet Secretary,” Wetangula said.
Wandayi had argued that the constitution only allows for the roles of President, Vice President, Cabinet Secretary, and Attorney General.
“I am the one who brought to the attention of the Speaker that this position of Prime CS is not provided for in the Constitution. It is either they rename that position and give it another title because this one is not right because it is like creating another office,” he said.
With the appointment and should he pass the vetting, Mudavadi will be the third most powerful government official after President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
“He will oversee the government projects. He will coordinate national legislative agenda,” President Ruto said of Mudavadi while he was naming his cabinet.
The President explained how his administration will be organized in an Executive Order published on Thursday, and he has already assigned Prime Cabinet Secretary nominee Musalia Mudavadi an office at Kenya Railways Headquarters.