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{
    "id": 297996,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/297996/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 359,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Eseli",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 141,
        "legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
        "slug": "david-eseli"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this chance to also support the Public Service Commission Bill, 2012. First, I would like to congratulate the Minister for bringing this Bill before the House. The PSC as it is constituted now is probably guilty of the skewed employment methods in the public service in the sense that right now the human resource audit of the public service is definitely skewed on tribal and regional lines. The new PSC should endeavour to correct this and in future also endevour to ensure that all those people who are eligible are given the full chance to be able to get those jobs. My only fear is that this Bill, as it is now--- I am not sure that it will remedy the situation. If you go into the First Schedule on how the Commissioners will be appointed, you will find that the President shall, by notice in the Gazette, declare vacancies in the Commission and constitute a selection panel comprising seven professionals drawn from the public and private sector. That means we have given the President the freedom to pick anybody on that panel probably with instructions to appoint certain people. That is not right. We are starting on the wrong foot. We should have that panel also vetted here, so that we are sure that the people constituting that panel to appoint the Commissioners are people we, as Parliament and representatives of the people, are confident with. Otherwise giving the President unfettered authority to just appoint panelists who will then carry out the appointment of the Public Service Commissioners, we might be falling in the old trap and that will not be right. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, while it has been well explained as to the merits of having a six-year non-renewable term, I think we need to also relook at the issue of institutional memory and continuity. If they are going to be all appointed at the same time and for a fixed six year term, I think there might be a problem; probably the Minister knows the reason why they opted for that and, therefore, did away with the issue of continuity and institutional memory. Lastly is the issue of the secretary to be appointed under Clause 16(1), who shall be a State Officer. It is very interesting how some State Officers are appointed and how others are appointed. Some State Officers are appointed after vetting by Parliamentary committees and this House, but some of them are appointed directly and then designated as State Officers. I think we need to come out clearly; are State Officers people who have been vetted by Parliament or are State Officers people who have been appointed elsewhere and then classified as State Officers? I remember when the controversy came up when we were appointing the new Commissioner of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). It was stated clearly that he is not a State Officer, and so his appointment did not need to come through Parliament. Not being a State Officer, therefore, his name did not have to come to Parliament for vetting. Now, if the Secretary of the PSC is going to be a State Officer, as is stated in this Bill, then that Secretary’s name must come to Parliament for vetting, otherwise he should not be a State Officer. With those few remarks, I beg to support and state that I will be bringing some amendments to the Bill at the Committee Stage."
}