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{
    "id": 1394513,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1394513/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 231,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Caroli Omondi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Speaker. Again, there is a misconception here. It took me a bit of time to get it, but Article 234 of the Constitution clearly shows that the public service is restricted in terms of how it exercises its powers to hire, fire and discipline State officers. This is because there are special procedures for State offices and how the public service exercises its powers with respect to State officers. I can give him an example. I was the first Chief of Staff in the Republic of Kenya. When we created that office, it had no powers but the President had the executive power to organise his executive office, and so did the Prime Minister. There are offices in a presidential system of government that are not necessarily created by law. If you check the history of the Office of the Chief of Staff in the United States of America (USA), the first holder was a presidential appointee through an Executive Order. Over time, it has gained currency simply because in a presidential system such as the one we have, there are officers who cannot exercise both bureaucratic and political power. A Principal Secretary cannot interface with Parliament in a presidential system. In a presidential system such as the one in the USA, presidents have their chiefs of staff who can exercise both bureaucratic and executive power in a political interface with Congress. That power rests with the President. Article 234 of the Constitution limits the authority of the public service in terms of hiring, disciplining, and directing State officers. However, it does not limit the power of the President under Article 132 of the Constitution to establish offices in the Executive, as he so wishes. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
}