Former Kenya National Union of Teachers secretary general Wilson Sossion has opined that the Chief Administrative Secretary positions are still valid despite the High Court ruling terming them illegal.
Sossion, who had been appointed the Tourism CAS, said the positions are still valid for purposes of strengthening the operations of state departments administratively.
He spoke on Tuesday during an interview with Citizen TV.
"There is a big difference between the role of the Cabinet Secretary as the overall in charge of the ministries and big difference between Principal Secretaries as accounting officers," the former Knut SG said.
He said the appointment of the 50 CASs mirrored the requirements of the Constitution.
Sossion said if the appointment of the CASs was not constitutional then the Employment and Labour Relations Board would not have entertained the matter.
He said that when he served in the education sector, he witnessed first-hand how the CAS came in hand to strengthen the administration and the deliveries of the ministry.
"Of course, when the Assistant Ministers were removed amendments to the public service were not reinvigorated to fill those particular gaps. This is what informed the appointments," he said.
"The 27 CASs that were appointed in the previous administration were able to serve a full 5-year term," he said.
On Monday, the High Court termed the 50 CASs appointed by President William Ruto illegal.
Justice Kanyi Kimondo found that Ruto went against the constitution in creating the 27 additional CAS positions.
The court said whereas there was reasonable public participation in the creation of 23 CASs, there was no such participation regarding the additional 27 CAS positions.
"The notification of President William Ruto dated March 16, 2023, on the appointments is quashed," Justice Kimondo ruled.
