Time flies with great content! Renew in to keep enjoying all our premium content.
Prime
PSC supports the quashing of promotions done at A-G's office
A director at PSC said all public officers must be given an equal opportunity to compete for available vacant promotional positions within their respective authorised establishments.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has backed a petition challenging staff promotions at the Attorney-General’s office late last year, saying they were made contrary to the law.
In support of the petition filed by Dr Benjamin Magare-Gikenyi, the PSC said the promotions for top senior management positions at the Attorney General’s office did not meet the ethnic and gender requirements. Employment and Labour Relations court had suspended the promotions after Dr Gikenyi said the positions were not filled competitively.
Dr Gikenyi said of the 15 senior positions filled on November 26, nine are from the same ethnic community while 12 are female.
The PSC added that the promotions were made in gross violation and contravention of the Constitution, Public Service Act, office of the Attorney General Act and human resource policies and procedures manual for the PSC.
“The commission supports the petition fully and humbly urge this honourable court to grant all the reliefs therein as particularised,” the PSC said.
It maintained that compliance with the constitutional, statutory and regulatory requirements on appointments in the public service is not a matter of choice but mandatory.
Mr John Kimani, a director at PSC said all public officers must be given an equal opportunity to compete for available vacant promotional positions within their respective authorised establishments.
Otherwise, Mr Kimani said, public entities will develop and perpetuate a culture of impunity where appointments and promotions are not based on fair competition and merit bit on preference and favouritism, among other illegal considerations.
The commission said although its secretary was present in the meeting at the advisory board of the Attorney General as a representative of the chairperson of the PSC, he was misled that the recruitment was undertaken in strict compliance with the law and that what was being discussed and adopted was the report to that effect.
“That as a result of the impugned promotions, the commission has deemed the participation of its chairperson in the membership of the Advisory Board of the Office of the Attorney-General no longer tenable,” he said.
Justice Byram Ongaya had suspended the promotions as announced by the solicitor general Shadrack Mose in a memo on November 26, 2024, pending the determination of a petition.
Dr Gikenyi challenged the promotions saying for the few positions that existed at the top, the qualified State counsel were never given an opportunity to compete among themselves.
He added that Mr Mose effected the promotions without fair competition and merit and without undertaking ethnic and regional balance and gender considerations.
The case will be mentioned on February 11, 2025 for directions.
The positions filled are two senior deputy solicitor generals, 13 deputy solicitor general, four chief state counsel, 63 deputy chief state counsel and 145 principal state counsel.
The positions of 70 senior state counsel and one ICT officer, were not contested.
While defending the promotions, Mr Oscar Eredi for the Attorney General said there promotions were done procedurally and a previous advertisement, for the positions, “was caught up in the transition and de-linking the AGs office and PSC”.
Mr Eredi said following the de-linking of the Attorney General’s office from the PSC, the A-G’s office embarked on the process of promoting officials who had remained in the same positions for long.
“That following the delinking, the Hon Attorney General embarked on the process of the operationalization of the Act in line with the amendments that had been made thereto,” Mr Mose said in an affidavit.
Mr Mose added that one of the processes was a review of the staff complement to enable the office to undertake its constitutional mandate as well as optimally and efficiently provide services to Kenyans.
He said the promotions factored all the requirements, including age, those who were in acting capacity and regional balance.
Mr Eredi further pointed out that about 70 percent of the workforce at the Attorney General’s office were women.
Dr Magare-Gikenyi challenged the promotions arguing that they were done without undertaking a competitive process and the Attorney General has no powers to promote persons to the grades of Senior Deputy Solicitor General and Deputy Solicitor General.
“That the fact that of the 15 top technical positions in the Office of the Attorney-General available for promotion 12 were given to one gender, the same is prima facie discriminatory and against constitutional principles for gender inclusion,” he said.
