HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 297997,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/297997/?format=api",
"text_counter": 360,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
"slug": "martha-karua"
},
"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I rise to support this Bill, which corporatizes the PSC and seeks to reform it. The PSC is one institution that has failed to reform alongside the rest of the country. Time and again, as other Members have said, appointments in the public service have left a lot to be desired. Promotions have not been done on merit. I had occasion, when I served as a Minister, to complain about an officer; at the time somebody was seeking the transfer of that officer, a letter promoting that officer arrived. Therefore, the way the PSC interacts with the client Ministries leaves a lot to be desired. The PSC is like a management consultancy firm, but for the Government departments. Therefore, even though it is independent under the Constitution, it must be sensitive that it works for clients who are the Ministries and departments of Government and it should be responsive. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I remember once complaining about promotions when I was in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. Those who had been promoted included people who had recently been reprimanded; some had committed criminal offences and had been convicted, yet long serving officers, who were dedicated according to the PSC, did not merit the appointment. The blame does not go directly to the Commissioners alone, because they work under a delegated system, and they appoint officers of the client Ministry as the authorized officers. If they have no mechanism of supervising how work is done, it means corruption will go on. We will blame it on the PSC, but it is in house-work within the client Ministry. I am very glad that the qualifications for the people being appointed now are set. Previously the PSC Commissioners have been appointed through the prerogative of the President; the Minister’s concerned forwarded names, people lobbied, it was actually a home for the retired, as far as I know it. Now we are being told you have to be recruited competitively. There is nothing wrong with somebody who has experience and who has served for a while. However, you cannot make it that everybody in the Commission must be retired. Therefore, I note with appreciation that there is set criteria and qualifications, and that appointments will be in accordance with the principles guiding the public service, which are to be found in Article 232 of the Constitution. It means that appointment has to be open, transparent and competitive. This way, we will get officers who will appreciate the enormity of the job before them. I think this is happening for the first time. Previously in some of the key commissions we have had officers, sometimes chairmen or certain commissioners, serving upwards of 20 years. This is not necessarily in the PSC but also in the other sister commissions. This is totally unacceptable. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am, therefore, very much okay with the provision of six years, non-renewable. For colleagues who are worried about institutional memory, there will be a secretary to the Commission. The secretary holds the institutional memory. Maybe the Minister could ensure that the appointments are staggered, so that they do not all leave at the same time. They could be staged over three months or over a certain period, so that we have Commissioners who will remain as new ones come in. however, I have no problem with the provision even as it is because the institutional memory will lie with the secretary to the Commission. I think that the person who drafted this legislation became very lazy, because when you just say, “in addition to functions set out in Article 234” what about that person in County X who is reading this Act and the Constitution is not near? Will they know what you mean? What is so difficult about reproducing the functions of the Commission? What is so difficult about reproducing Article 232, so that the values and principles the public service are there, and this Act on its own, even when the Constitution is not there, can be user friendly? This Bill needs to be re-molded. The spirit is good; it is necessary but let us polish it. The drafter may have had many other Bills because we know this is a time when we are trying to catch up with the Bills demanded of us by the Constitution. Let us, therefore, as Parliament take up and make this Bill stronger by reproducing Articles 234 and 232 in extensor, so that the Act even on its own can make sense to those who will read it. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am also looking at other further provisions of this Bill: Appointments, removal of the chairperson, members and the secretary. I want to say that anybody designated as a public officer, let them come to Parliament for vetting, including the commissioner. The work they are doing is enormous; they are in charge of the entire Public Service in the corporation called Kenya. Because of the enormity of their job, let them come through vetting. Let them appreciate the enormity of the job they are holding so that they truly then can have the mandate to reform the country. Let us have a unified procedure of appointments for public officers of a certain level for State officers. I would, therefore, echo what Dr. Eseli has stated that we need to ensure that we harmonize and all State officers come before the House for vetting. Otherwise, I want to congratulate the Minister because this is one of the Bills that ought to be passed before this House breaks for elections and, therefore, it is good that the Bill has been brought before us in this House but it is also important that we help in strengthening it. With those many remarks, I beg to support."
}