Azimio opposes CAS appointments in Ruto’s government
Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya Coalition has changed its tune regarding the imminent appointment of Chief Administrative Secretaries (CAS) in President William Ruto’s government.
In a statement on Wednesday, Leader of the Minority in the National Assembly Opiyo Wandayi said the opposition is against Kenya Kwanza’s move to create more positions at a time the country is facing a severe drought.
The MP said President Ruto campaigned against the amendment to the constitution proposed under the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) because it was meant to create positions for the opposition, but is now the one creating such positions.
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“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 Wandayi said.
The Ugunja MP also said the new layer of bureaucracy will come with another set of offices, staff, per diems, salaries and equipment – including fuel guzzlers – which will consume another set of billions of shillings of the tax payers’ money.
“As a party, we remain opposed to efforts to expand the executive further and create an excessive bureaucracy that will add no value to the lives of our people,” Mr Opiyo said. “Indeed, we are concerned that the government has grown too large, too bureaucratic, too wasteful, too unresponsive and too uncaring about people and their problems.”
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The last regime of Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, which embraced the opposition leader Mr Raila Odinga through the Handshake in 2018, also had CAS positions.
This comes as the Public Service Commission starts vetting 240 shortlisted candidates for these positions.
Former State House digital director Dennis Itumbi and former Starehe MP Charles Njagua Kanyi are among 48 candidates who faced the commission panel on Wednesday.
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