Azimio: Ruto govt has grown too large and bureaucratic
President William Ruto, his deputy Rigathi Gachagua and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi at a past event on January 7, 2023.
The Azimio la Umoja coalition has opposed President William Ruto’s move to appoint Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) arguing that the office will consume large public resources that should be spent on solving problems facing Kenyans.
According to the Leader of Minority in the National Assembly Opiyo Wandayi, the CAS positions –which were introduced by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta-- will not add any value in service delivery to Kenyans because they do not have any defined roles.
“Indeed we are dismayed that William Ruto who campaigned against the BBI on grounds that it was meant to create positions is now busy creating positions that will add no value whatsoever to service delivery and steering the country in the right direction. We reject this total waste of resources, time and misuse of the Public Service Commission,” Mr Opiyo said in a statement.
Mr Opiyo has also said the new positions will come with new perks something that he argues will overburden the taxpayer.
“The new layer of bureaucracy will come with another set of offices, staff, per diems, salaries, and equipment including fuel guzzlers that will consume another set of billions of money from over-taxed and suffering Kenyans with no tangible returns,” he added.
Shortlisted candidates
His utterances come after the Public Service Commission (PSC) kicked off interviews for the shortlisted candidates at the PSC offices in Nairobi.
On the first day of the interviews, a number of candidates faced the interview panel at different times of the day.
Among the notable names who went for the interview include former Secretary-General of the Kenya National Teachers Union (KNUT) Wilson Sossion, former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru, former EALA MP Simon Mbugua, digital strategist Dennis Itumbi, Catherine Waruguru, former nominated MP Isaac Mwaura and musician Charles Njagua.
The interviews are expected to end on March 7, 2023.
The list of qualified candidates will be presented to President William Ruto who will appoint them to serve in different positions.
Most of the applicants for the positions are poll losers in the August 2022 election and ex-governors who are allied with President William Ruto.
