President William Ruto has called on the newly sworn-in Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) to serve Kenyans equally and with dignity.
Speaking at State House, Nairobi where he witnessed the swearing-in of the 50 CASs, the President said he expected them to hit the road running and implement the Kenya Kwanza manifesto.
"You have sworn to serve the people of Kenya and the Republic of Kenya. I didn't hear anyone swearing to serve their families, villages, communities or counties.
"I do expect each and every one of you to serve Kenyans in their entirety as constituted," he said.
At the same time, President Ruto said the CASs are drawn from every corner of the country.
"I made these appointments deliberately across Kenya because it is our intention to bring Kenya together.
"I even went further to appoint people who may not have necessarily voted for me, because the elections are behind us," he stated.
Ruto further asked them to work together and unite Kenyans.
"We must come together irrespective of how we voted, what political parties we voted for or who we voted for.
"It is now time for us to come together, and work together so that we can better serve the millions of Kenyans who expect from us nothing short of service," the President added.
Ruto's decision challenged in court
The CASs were sworn in on Thursday, March 23 despite a court case challenging their appointment.
The High Court on Tuesday, March 21 certified as urgent a lawsuit seeking to quash the decision of the President to create an additional 27 positions last week.
Justice Hedwig Ong'undi certified the case filed by a Kenyan citizen residing in the United Kingdom Eliud Karanja Matindi and directed him to serve the court papers to the President, Attorney General Justin Muturi, National Assembly, Salaries and Remuneration Commission, Public Service Commission, Controller of Budget and all the 50 CASs before Thursday, March 23, 2023, when the case will be mentioned for further direction.
"I hereby certify the matter as urgent and of great public interest. I, therefore, direct all the pleadings to be served on all parties immediately.
"The responses are to be filed and served immediately upon service. The case is to be mentioned on March 23, 2023, at 11:00 am for further directions," Justice Ong'undi ruled.
Matindi is challenging the decision by Ruto to nominate 50 persons to be appointed to the office of CAS in the full knowledge that only 23 positions were created and recruited outside the provisions of the constitution and the law.
According to the petitioner, the PSC had allowed the creation of only 23 CAS offices but the President appointed 50 of them.
