Having CASs is good for gov't because they will pay taxes - Elachi

Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi thinks that the role of Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) should be reinstated.

Elachi, herself a former CAS for Gender and Public Service CAS in the previous Jubilee administration on Thursday dismissed as weak the argument that the government does not need ‘assistant ministers’ because funding the offices is expensive.

In her view, the government should go ahead and establish the role because its occupants will pay taxes and benefit the government.

“If they get salaries, they will pay tax. In fact, we are creating more base for tax to go back to the government because they employ others. For me, it is not an issue of we have money or not,” the MP told the K24 television station.

“If you ask me, this turn of saying ‘we don’t have money’ is not right. I want a positive turn. Yes, we have a crisis but this is not the first time Kenya is finding itself in crisis. We cannot keep lamenting… God has blessed us.”

Her comments are in the wake of the tabling of the National Government Administration Laws (Amendment) Bill in parliament, which seeks to make various amendments to four Acts and is viewed as a route to revive the CAS position that was declared unconstitutional by the High Court in July. 

However, Elachi argues that CASs are essential for the optimal performance of government ministries if their mandate is clearly stated.

“In fairness of the country, of the delivery of service and ensuring that those ministries function in the right way, you need a deputy with a clear role… who will represent the CS in meetings when they are not around… who will follow through on all the other issues that are within the ministry,” the MP said.

The National Assembly in March declined to vet the 50 CAS nominees handpicked by President William Ruto, saying it had no constitutional authority to do so. The president nonetheless went ahead and swore them in at State House Nairobi.

The Law Society of Kenya and Katiba Institute then petitioned the appointment process and in July, the High Court quashed the appointments as unconstitutional.

According to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, the monthly salary for one CAS is Ksh.765,188, and thus the monthly salary for all 50 nominees would be Ksh.38,259,400.

Additionally, each CAS is entitled to a one-off mortgage payment of Ksh.35 million and a Ksh.10 million car grant, adding take home to Ksh.990 million.

Kenyans would also have to foot Ksh.10 million and Ksh.3 million for inpatient and outpatient medical cover for every CAS.

The CAS post was initially created by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 in a process that the court later declared unconstitutional in 2021 due to among other things lack of public participation.

Ruto’s administration nearly doubled the CAS slots from the previous 26.