Last week, the Government announced the appointment of eight new Permanent Secretaries. The persons selected appear suitably qualified for the position and are not generally known to be politically aligned. However, questions have been raised as to the basis under which they were selected, considering that there were no public advertisements for the position.
Role of the Public Service Commission
It is not clear as to the extent of involvement of the Public Service Commission (PSC), if any in relation to the above appointments. Article 201 of the Constitution states that ‘the power to make appointments to public offices and to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in those offices shall vest in the Public Service Commission’. The office of the Permanent Secretary, it is to be noted, is a public office. This is reinforced in the 2020 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. Under Section 4.4 entitled “Personnel and Other employment Related Information”, the position of Permanent Secretary is listed as part of the authorized establishment.
