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{
    "id": 563657,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/563657/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 318,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "coming from the Senate, I believe that the 45 or so counties that have not come up with similar Bills will stand guided. They will have proper guidelines and directions on appointments in our counties. Madam Temporary Speaker, public appointments and interviews for public appointments in this country are slowly degenerating into chambers of embarrassment. Just as recently as a few days back, when the nominees for the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) were being interviewed, instead of looking at the critical issues that are required of a holder of such positions, we went into misadventures, like trying to find out and making light of the fact that one of the applicants was not married. When we were vetting the nominee for the position of Cabinet Secretary, we saw the manner in which that went. A few years back, when we were vetting nominees for the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), we saw the kind of antagonism that was in the room and pervaded the entire interview process. As a result, you will find that many professionals avoid applying for public positions because they fear that they will be embarrassed, their feathers plucked. By the time they come out of such a vetting process, they will have lost the dignity and professional esteem that they previously held. It is, therefore, good that we have got clear guidelines. We have come up with a set of questions that all public appointees that will be vetted by the county assemblies will have to be subjected to. Madam Temporary Speaker, not everyone, even those who have studied human resource management, is gifted or qualified to carry out interviews. Therefore, without proper guidelines, it becomes very difficult to ensure that two or three candidates are weighed on the same kind of scale. When we have standard consistent questions, we will ensure that the scale is the same for all the applicants. Madam Temporary Speaker, I wish that this Bill should come out strongly to enforce the provisions of Chapter Six of our Constitution. Many commentators have accused Parliament of being the lead institution that has watered down the requirement that public officers must subscribe to Chapter Six of the Constitution. Many people have cited some of the unfortunate decisions of the previous Parliament, where we lowered the bar and got to a point where we had people who were being accused of very serious criminal offences. We said that, at end of the day, Chapter Six does not matter, but the vote of the common mwananchi. That is where the rain started beating us. That is why today very few of our leaders have got the moral authority to stand up and talk about Chapter Six of the Constitution. Therefore, when we get to the amendments, I hope that somewhere we shall say that a candidate who is being vetted by the county assembly must be weighed against the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution. Madam Temporary Speaker, allow me to talk about a board that is present in our county governments, called the County Public Service Board. This is established under Sections 57 and 58 of the County Governments Act. The CPSB is a very little understood, yet a very powerful board within the county governments. This is because it establishes and abolishes offices. It is the board that takes care of human resource The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}