Cabinet secretary nominees will be required to have a university degree and undergo a thorough vetting if proposals by MPs are implemented.
According to the MPs, there are a lot of gaps as far as vetting of CSs is concerned, which should be rectified in a bid to appoint people with high integrity.
The MPs said any CS nominee must have a university degree from a recognised institution. At the moment, the law does not explicitly require CS nominees to have a degree.
“Cabinet secretaries should have at least a degree. It doesn’t make sense that county executives are required to have a degree while that’s not a requirement at the national level,” said Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa.
Additionally, the legislators want representatives of investigative agencies from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to be present during vetting in order to provide more information about nominees.
The MPs also want representatives from the Higher Education Loans Board and the Kenya Revenue Authority to be present during vetting of ministers.
“We don’t want a situation where you approve a nominee then three weeks later they are being arrested for tax evasion and other related integrity issues,” said Majority Leader Aden Duale.
Further, the lawmakers want the Parliamentary Approval Act, 2011 amended to extend the vetting period from the current 14 days to one month.
They also want the appointment of the CSs to reflect regional and ethnic diversity as reflected in article 130 (2) of the Constitution.
“How would MPs know that someone is a criminal? Investigative agencies should be given time to do background check on the nominees.
“This House is supposed to deal with issues of regional and equal balance representation not just CV, competency and what the nominee owns or does not own,” Minority Leader John Mbadi said.
Mbadi also claimed that nominees have not been giving accurate information about their net worth.
