National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula on Thursday, December 5, approved a special motion by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah to delay the consideration of President William Ruto’s nominees to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
In his submission, the Kikuyu Member of Parliament (MP) requested the speaker to grant the committee an additional 14 days to iron out pending issues.
“This house resolves to extend the period for consideration of a special motion relating to the approval of nominees submitted by His Excellency the President for appointment of the chairperson and members of the SRC by a period of 14 days starting December 11,” Ichung’wa requested.
He went on to state that the request was due to pending issues yet to be addressed before the approval was granted.
Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula making remarks during the joint State of the Nation address by President William Ruto on Thursday, November 21, 2024.
National Assembly
“We are seeking extra time to be able to finalise a few pending issues before we bring that motion up for approval,” he added.
He also cited the fact that the house was breaking for recess starting December 6 as one of the reasons why they needed the extension.
The motion was seconded by minority whip MP Mark Mwenje who said, “I agree with the majority leader that there are some sticky issues that need to be resolved so I second the motion.”
This house decision came just a few hours before the President gazetted the approval of 13 appointments to three national government commissions following the approval by the MPs.
On November 11, President Ruto made 20 nominations including the seven in the SRC with Sammy Chepkwony being nominated for the chairperson of the commission.
If approved, he will be serving alongside 6 others including; Martin Kizito Ong’oyi, Aden Abdi, Leonid Ashindu, Gilda Odera, Geoffrey Apollo Omondi, and Jane Gatakaa Njage.
The 20 were all vetted by their respective National Assembly committees on November 22 and the 13 were consequently appointed on Thursday.
Among notable appointments made were Issack Hassan as Chairperson of the Independent Police Oversight Commission (IPOA) and Charles Njagua alias Jaguar to the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ).
President William Ruto speaking during the review of Kenya’s foreign policy, KICC, Nairobi, November 20, 2024.
Photo
PSC