What is the public seal and why is it causing jitters?

This is after reports indicated that the national symbol, recognized in the Second Schedule of the Constitution, was moved from its traditional custody of the Attorney General and moved to the office of the Head of Public Service (HOPS).

The transition was reportedly facilitated by the National Assembly Administration Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which proposed to amend the Office of the Attorney-General Act, 2012, to strip the Attorney General power to host the Seal. 

The Bill reads in part that HOPS, Felix Koskei, shall serve at the President's pleasure, shall be the custodian of the Public Seal, and any other instruments of State that are not in the custody of any other person".

The seal is used to stamp critical documents to represent the government, to show they are authentic and official. 

This has seen Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura defending the transition, arguing that it was conducted lawfully and did not infringe on national values.

“The process is anchored in legislation, which recognizes the HOPS as the appropriate holder of the seal,” he told the press on Monday.

Mwaura, however, took a u-turn on his pronouncement, clarifying that Parliament deleted the proposal to amend the National Administration Laws (Amendment) Bill and that the Seal is still at the AG's office.

"The Public Seal is under the custody of the Attorney General as per Article 9 of the Constitution. This needs to go on record that the Public Seal is not with the Head of Public Service, it's still with the AG and that is misinformation that came as a result of a process in Parliament and it was deleted," he said on Thursday.

Former AG Justin Muturi had earlier said that the transition was made because the government wants to avoid checks and legal censure from the AG.

"If documents can be signed and bear the public seal without the AG's legal advice, that is a serious issue. I'm sure that they are avoiding accountability by transferring such matters to the HOPS office," he told The Standard.

The AG's office has been the custodian of the public seal since Kenya was under colonial rule and has remained the tradition after gaining independence.

"That tradition was upended last year when Parliament quietly passed amendments shifting the seal's custody to the Head of Public Service, a position with no direct constitutional mandate and whose holder is neither vetted by Parliament nor subject to the same legal scrutiny as the AG," Muturi added.

Muturi has warned that the transition will now create room for conducting fishy deals and that "we should expect chaos".

This has however been met with harsh ridicule, as experts and leaders see the transition as a loophole to endless graft and weak legal safeguards.