President Uhuru Kenyatta now has a bloated Executive, with at least 10 ministries having two Chief Administrative Secretaries.
The appointment of an additional eight CASs by the President on Wednesday raises their number in various government ministries to 37 up from 29.
This means that taxpayers will fork out more to fund their salaries and allowances at a time the country’s public sector wage bill stands at 48 per cent of the total revenue raises annually.
The high-level government employments coincide with a warning by the international money lender IMF to the government to live within its means.
While advancing a Sh261 billion loan to Kenya, IMF asked the government to freeze employment and put more civil servants on contracts as part of the conditions for the facility.
A CAS takes home a cool Sh874,500 a month, meaning that it costs the country about Sh388 million in salaries alone annually.
A day after President Uhuru effected changes in the top members of the Executive by appointing new CASs, it has emerged they are not replacements but additions.
State House on Thursday told the Star that the President did not fire any CASs and that those appointed will continue to serve alongside those who have been in service in the same capacity.
“No one has been dropped,” State House spokesperson Kanze Dena told the Star in a text message when asked about the fate of the CASs who were not reassigned by the President.
This means the CASs whose fate was seen as uncertain following the latest Executive changes are in office.
These include Labour and Social Protection CAS and former Narok West MP Patrick Ole Ntutu, an ally of the Deputy President William Ruto, and Youth and Gender CAS and former Nairobi Women Representative Rachel Shebesh.
Others are former Subukia MP and National Treasury and Planning Ministry CAS Nelson Gaichuhie and Education CAS Mumina Bonaya.