Wilson Sossion, who was among the 50 Cabinet Administrative Secretaries (CASs) whose nomination was nullified by the court, has faulted 'the constitutional gap' for the contention revolving around the appointment of himself and 49 others.
Speaking during an interview with a local media station, Sossion said that the position of the former assistant ministers was abolished and a provision for the CASs was not created even after the abolishment.
“There were gaps in the constitution when the assistant ministers were removed and the public service was not invigorated to fill those gaps. The CASs in the previous administration served a whole five years to administer and deliver,” Sossion said.
He added that the position of the CAS is a very critical role that must be there for the state departments to operate at full capacity.
Sossion insisted on the importance of the CAS, saying that his experience working at the Ministry of Education brought him to the realization of the value they add.
"I served in the education ministry for long and I saw the value the CAS came with to strengthen the administration and the service delivery of the ministry,” Sossion said.
The Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) chair also argued that the focus of the country should be on the delivery of service.
“The most important thing is delivering service, It’s an investment to deliver and give value. I agree with Elachi that these positions are valid for the purpose of strengthening the operations of State departments administratively,” Sossion added.
Elachi on CAS
Present during the television show was also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dagoretti North Beatrice Elachi.
Her thoughts were in concurrence with Sossion's, stating that the CAS positions are of importance.
She pointed out a failure of the Public Service Commission (PSC) to state the role of the CASs.
“Public Service needs to ensure you put a mandate. Without a CAS, a Cabinet Secretary (CS) might run a ministry while leaving areas within their docket that is outside their field of expertise," Elachi claimed.
The former Gender and Public Service CAS in the former regime said that the work meant for the CASs cannot be solely left to the Permanent Secretary (PS).
Sossion also debated saying that the role of CAS is very different from that of a PS and a CS.
He argued that the function of the PS is accounting and the CS role is mainly taking charge of the administrative and implementation functions of the ministry.
“There is a big difference between CSs as overall in charge of the ministry and PSs as accounting officers. The administration is a completely different domain,” the CAS nominee stated.
CAS court ruling
On Monday, July 4, 2023, the court ruled that the position of CASs was abolished in September 2022, adding that the recent appointments are therefore not within the provision of the constitution.
"Once that office was abolished on 21 September 2022, the newly-created office and complement of 23 office holders could no longer benefit from that stay."
“The newly-created office and fresh complement of 50 had to comply with the constitution and the criteria set out earlier in Okiyah’s case in order to be lawfully established. They did not comply. The entire complement of 50 CASs is therefore unconstitutional,” the court ruled.
Additionally, the court also stated the lack of public participation during the appointment of the CASs as another reason for making the appointment unconstitutional.
