President Uhuru Kenyatta and his ministers could have been abusing their powers contrary to constitutional provisions, it has emerged.
Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, in a circular issued in 2016, prohibited the state from appointing full-time state officers to boards of various cooperations.
In the letter, Kinyua said the constitution prohibited such appointments, adding that it was in violation of Chapter Six (Integrity).
But despite the order, both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cabinet Secretaries have been making appointments without regarding the order.
In the latest appointment published in the Gazette notice on Friday, President Kenyatta appointed Uasin Gishu Senator Margaret Kamar to the board of the National Fund for Disabled of Kenya.
“This principle is extended to all public officers by section 52(1) and (2) of the Leadership and Integrity Act Cap 182 on the application of Chapter 6 of the Constitution that provides for General Leadership and Integrity Code,” Kinyua wrote in the circular.
“In view of the foregoing and in order to comply with the requirement of the rule of law under Article 10(2) (a) of the Constitution, it has been decided that there shall be no more appointments of state officers to Boards of State Corporations on their individual capacities except where the legal instruments establishing a state corporation provides otherwise,” the circular reads.
Besides making such controversial appointments, Uhuru has also been on spot for recruitment of retirees to his cabinet, a move that has often been criticised by social media users.
Recently, appointment of former Othaya MP Mary Wambui was stopped by Employment and Labour Relations court. Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja challenged the appointment.