MPs give Attorney-General powers to employ own staff
Parliament in session.
The Attorney-General will now have the powers to employ his own workforce, from the Solicitor-General to subordinate staff, without the prying bureaucracies of the Public Service Commission (PSC).
This is after Parliament approved changes to the law.
Even so, this will materialize once President William Ruto signs into law the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2023.
The government-sponsored Bill, which made changes to 17 laws, including the Office of the Attorney-General Act of 2012, was passed by the National Assembly on Wednesday last week, a day before the MPs proceeded on a short recess and transmitted to the president for assent.
To actualise this, the enacted Bill establishes an Advisory Board chaired by the Attorney-General to replace the PSC in the employment of staff function at the Office of the Attorney-General.
In doing so, the Bill awaiting presidential assent makes changes to sections two, nine, 13, 21, 22 of the OAG Act 2012.
“There is established a board to be known as the Advisory Board to the Office of the Attorney-General. The board shall advise the Attorney-General on matters that may be referred to the board by the Attorney-General,” reads a new section introduced in the OAG Act.
The PSC is currently in charge of employing officers at the Office of the Attorney-General from the Solicitor-General, the Attorney-General’s principal assistant and the accounting officer of the State Law Office, to subordinate staff.
The Advisory Board shall consist of an Attorney-General (chairperson) and Principal Secretaries (PSs) responsible for Public Service and National Treasury and the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission “or a representative designated in writing by the Chairperson.”
The others include the chairperson Council of the Institute of Human Resource Management as established under the Human Resource Management Professionals Act or a representative designated in writing by the chairperson and the President of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) or a representative designated in writing by the President.
The Solicitor-General shall be the secretary to the Advisory Board.
The Advisory Board, with a quorum of four, shall meet at least four times in every financial year and not more than three months shall elapse between one meeting and the next meeting.
“The board members shall be paid such allowances as the Attorney-General, shall approve upon the advice of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission,” reads the enacted Bill.
The functions of the Advisory Board as per the enacted Bill include advising the Attorney-General on the “recruitment and appointment of the Solicitor-General, Deputy Solicitors-General, States Counsel and other members of staff of the office.”
The board shall also promote States Counsel and other members of staff of the office as well as discipline them.
“Any State Counsel, officer or member of staff employed and deployed by Public Service Commission and serving in the Office immediately before the commencement of this section shall on the commencement of this section, be deemed to have been employed and deployed in accordance with this Act,” reads new section 33A (1) of the Act.
If the enacted Bill becomes law in its current form, it will make the State Law Office independent in the recruitment of staff just like the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The PSC while appearing before the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly during the public hearings on the Bill, opposed the creation of the board saying it is the only institution mandated by the constitution to be in charge of employment of OAG staff.
This even as Attorney-General Justin Muturi hit back at PSC for overlooking his office in the appointment of Deputy Solicitors-General, States Counsel and other staff.
Mr Muturi, the immediate former Speaker of the National Assembly also accused PSC of failing to properly remunerate, retain and employ enough States Counsel saying it is the reason the government has been losing numerous cases in court, in the process making taxpayers incur huge bills.
“The State Law office is understaffed and demoralized. Whenever we want to send the State Counsels to counties to offer services to the people, PSC always says no. The Cabinet Secretaries are requesting for Counsels but then we have a limited number,” Mr Muturi said in a memorandum to parliament.
“The connection with PSC in the employment of staff has never worked well with the Office of the Attorney-General,” he added.
The State Law Office is famed for having the best legal minds in the country.
But they never last as they are “poached” by well remunerating institutions both in public service like parliament, ODPP and the private sector.
To address the hemorrhage of staff at the OAG, the Advisory Board working with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), shall be in charge of remuneration.
“The advisory Board shall advise the Attorney-General on the remuneration of the Solicitor-General, Deputy Solicitors-General, State Counsel and other members of staff of the Office in consultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.”
