National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah on Wednesday, March 13 slammed Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria after he skipped a plenary session in the National Assembly.
CS Kuria through State Department for Public Service Principal Secretary Amos Gatecha wrote to the Cleark of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge saying he would not make it for the plenary session after an abrupt Cabinet meeting came up.
CS Kuria apologized to the house and asked the session to be rescheduled to another date.
“The Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service Performance and Delivery Management was invited to respond to various questions in the plenary of the National Assembly on Wednesday, March 13 at 2:30 PM.
“However, due to a planned Cabinet meeting on the same date, the Cabinet Secretary will not be able to attend. Ordinarily, cabinet meetings are held on Thursdays. For those reasons, the purpose of this letter is to request for the rescheduling of the said appearance but also to give apologies to the House,” the letter stated.
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The letter did not sit well with Ichung’wah who said a cabinet meeting was not a reason enough for CS Kuria to skip the plenary session.
The Kikuyu MP noted that President William Ruto is an early riser and usually holds his cabinet meetings in the morning.
“I am aware there was a cabinet meeting but it is also common knowledge that the President is an early riser and Cabinet Meetings are usually held in the morning session that is Cabinet Secretaries are required in the house in the afternoon. The president himself is on the record that he will not hold any Cabinet Secretary from appearing in parliament on account of a cabinet meeting,” Ichung’wah stated.
At the same time, the National Assembly Majority Leader warned CS Kuria about using a PS to write to the National Assembly.
“We cannot have principal secretaries being the ones writing to us. If it is the Cabinet Secretary who has been invited, it must be the CS writing to the house saying he is unavailable for this or that reason. And that has been the trend in all other Cabinet Secretaries. Why Moses Kuria decided to get PS Amos Gatecha to be the one to sent this letter I don’t know,” Ichung’wah added.
He further warned all CSs against skipping appearances in the National Assembly saying it is not optional.
