Why Retained Cabinet Secretaries Will Not Be Vetted By Parliament

Cabinet Secretaries retained by President Uhuru in his second term in office will not undergo vetting and approval by Parliament, National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale says.

The six, who include Dr.Fred Matiang’i (Interior), Charles Keter (Energy), Joe Mucheru (ICT), Najib Balala (Tourism), Henry Rotich (Treasury) and James Macharia (Transport & Infrastructure), were retained, while 13 of their colleagues were sidelined when President Kenyatta named his partial cabinet on Friday.

Constitutionally, cabinet appointees must go through mandatory vetting and approval by Parliament before assuming office, but citing 2011 Parliamentary Act on public appointments and other international jurisdictions like that of the United States where President Obama retained defense secretary from his predecessor’s administration, Duale said the six will not require a fresh vetting from the house.

“In 2012 when Obama was re-elected for the second term, more than five of his cabinet were reappointed and never went through a fresh vetting. In our case, because the six had undergone vetting once and are still holding the same portfolio, they will not be vetted,” he said.

“So we expect the President to send us fresh names of the likes of Munyes, Yattani and Tobiko for vetting,” added Duale.

Speaking to the press Duale said only the fresh CS nominees and the newly appointed ambassador to Netherlands, Lawrence Lenayapa will be vetted starting from next week.

“Once we receive the names on Monday from the President, the speaker will transmit those names directly to the two committees without necessarily recalling the house so that they do public participation, vet those individuals and call the house for a special sitting to either approve or reject the names within the 14 days window as provided for in public appointment parliamentary act of 2011,” he said.