Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 391822,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391822/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 64,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A.B. Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "132(4) (a). This is, again, in line with Article 234(4), which creates the Office of Chief of Staff to be appointed with concurrence of the Public Service Commission. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the second question that hon. Mbadi asked was on Cabinet decisions and overlap with the duties of the Secretary to the Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary’s position is under Article 154. It basically deals with Cabinet meetings, filing and giving Cabinet decisions to Cabinet Secretaries. It has no role in the daily and weekly activities of Government departments and Ministries. Hon. Gumbo raised a fundamental issue – whether the President is appointing members of only his community. I want to confirm that the State House Comptroller does not come from the community of the President. The Director of Communications at State House does not come from the President’s community, among many others. If we go back to history, it will suffice that it is previous governments, including the former Grand Coalition Government, where those in authority appointed their cronies. For the first time in the history of this country, the Cabinet Secretary in charge of internal security does not come from the President’s community. However, the question that hon. Gumbo raised is not part of the question that hon. Mbadi asked. Hon. Deputy Speaker, hon. Makali talked about the vetting of the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service. I want to inform him that as far as the issue of vetting and approval by Parliament is concerned those offices are within the Constitution. The provisions in Article 155 apply to Cabinet Secretaries and Commissioners. So, if you look at the Constitution, you will see which appointments fall within the parliamentary vetting and approval category and which ones do not. Hon. Kagongo asked to whom Cabinet Secretaries report. I agree with him that Cabinet Secretaries must do reports to Parliament after every six months. They are overseen by Parliament. However, the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature are independent of each other. So, Cabinet Secretaries report to the Head of the Executive, through the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, and through Cabinet meetings. They do not report to advisors or any other persons. The hierarchy is very clear. I want to make it very clear that Cabinet Secretaries do not report to anyone. They have weekly Cabinet meetings, where they make decisions. They have the Chief of Staff, who deals with the President on a daily basis. Hon. Abdikadir talked about Cabinet affairs, departments and their co-ordination. The Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service is the principal assistant to the President. He is responsible for co-ordination and administration of Government departments. The President cannot deal with day-to-day co-ordination of Government Ministries and departments. It is from the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service that the President gets a daily briefing on every Department of Government. Hon. Deputy Speaker, hon. Wamalwa raised the issue of ethics. This is a very different domain. It is about integrity, which is in Chapter Six of the Constitution. Parliament has the mandate of investigating whether the said officer meets the integrity criteria provided by the Constitution. A very fundamental or good question was, does the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service’s role overlap with that of the State House Comptroller? I do not think so because the State House Comptroller is basically the Accounting Officer of State House. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}