The Constitution of Kenya

Chapter VIII: The Public Service

[ Table of Contents | Chapter 7 | Chapter 9]

106
Public Service Commission.
107
Appointments etc. of Public Officers .
108
Appointment, etc. of Members of Kenya as Police Force.
109
Attorney General.
112
Pensions Laws and Protection of Pension Rights.
113
Power to Withhold Pensions, etc.



106. (1) There shall be a Public Service Commission 
which shall consist of a chairman, a deputy chairman and 
fifteen other members. 



(2) The members of the Commission shall be appointed 
by the President. 



(3) Subject to subsection (4), a person shall not be 
qualified to be appointed as a member of the Commission if- 


     (a) 
     he is, or has at any time been, a member of the 
     National Assembly, or he has at any time been a 
     member of either House of the National Assembly 
     formerly established for Kenya, a member of a 
     Provincial Council or a Regional Assembly formerly 
     established for Kenya or a member (other than an 
     ex officio, an appointed or a nominated member) of 
     any Legislative Council established for Kenya at any 
     time before 12th December, 1963; or



     (b) he is, or has at any time been, nominated as a candidate 
     for election as a member of the National 
     Assembly, or of a former House of the National 
     Assembly, or of a former Provincial Council, 
     Regional Assembly or Legislative Council; or 



     (c) he is, or has at any time been, the holder of an office 
     in any political organization that sponsors or otherwise 
     supports, or has at any time sponsored or 
     otherwise supported, a candidate for election as a 
     member of the National Assembly or of any such 
     former House of the National Assembly, former 
     Provincial Council, Regional Assembly or Legislative 
     Council.




(4) The disqualifications referred to in subsection (3) shall 
cease to be disqualifications in respect of a person when Parliament 
has been dissolved on two occasions after that person 
ceased to be such a member, candidate or holder of office. 


(5) Subject to subsection (7), the office of a member of the Commission shall became vacant- 


     (a) at expiration of three years from the date of his appointment; or 



     (b) if he accepts any office the holding of which, if he were not a member of the Commission, whould make
     him inneligible for appointment to the office of member of the Comission. 




(6) The President may remove a member of the Commission 
from office only for failure to discharge the functions 
of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind 
or from any other cause) or for misbehavior, and shall not be 
so removed except in accordance with this section. 



(7) A member of the Commission shall be removed from 
office by the President if the question of his removal from 
office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under sub 
section (8) and the tribunal has recommended to the President 
that he onght to be removed from office for inability as 
aforesaid or for misbehaviour. 



(8) If the President considers that the question of removing a member of the Commission under this section ought
to be investigated, then- 




     (a) the President shall appoint a tribunal which shall 
     consist of a chairman and four other members selected by the Presidentt from among persons- 





          (i) who hold or have held office as judge of the High 
          Court or judge of appeal; or 



          (ii) who are qualified to be appointed as judges of 
          the High Court under section 61 (3); or 



          (iii) upon whom the rank of Senior Counsel has been 
          conferred by the President under section 17 of 
          the Advocates Act; and 



     (b) the tribunal shall inquire into the matter and report 
     on the facts thereof to the President and recommend 
     to him whether the member ought to be removed 
     under this section. 




(9) If the question of removing a member of the Commission has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the 
President may suspend that member from the exercise of the 
functions of his office and the suspension may at any time be 
revoked by the President, and shall in any case cease to have 
effect if the tribunal recommends to the President that the 
member should not be runoved. 
(c) in this subsection (10), by inserting the expression", subject 
to subsections (5), (7) and (9)" immediately after the 
words "other member shall". 



(10) If the office of chairman of the Commission is vacant 
or the chairman is for any reason unable to exercise the functions of his office, then, until a person has been
appointed to 
and has assumed the functions of that office or until the person holding that office has resumed those
functions....(a word or two missing) 
...may be, the deputy chairman or, if the office of deputy chair- 
man is vacant or the deputy chairman is for any reason unable 
to perform the functions of the office of chairman, such one 
of the other members as the President may appoint shall act 
as chairman; and the deputy chairman or the other member 
shall, subject to subsections (5), (7) and (9), continue to act 
until a person has been appointed to the office of chairman 
and has assumed the functions of that office or, as the case 
may be. until the person in whose place he is acting has 
assumed or resumed those functions.




(11) If the office of a member of the Commission other 
than the chairman is vacant or if such a member is acting as 
chairman under subsection (10) or is for any other reason unable to exercise the functions of his office, the
President may 
appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed to be a 
member to act in place of that member; and a person so 
appointed shall, subject to subsections (5), (7) and (9), continue 
to act until a person has been appointed to the office in which 
he is acting and has assumed the functions of that office or, as 
the case may be, until the person in whose place he is acting 
has resumed those functions.




(12) Subject to this Chapter, the Commission shall, in the 
exercise of its functions under this Constitution, not be subject 
to the direction or control of any other person or authority.



(13) Subject to this Chapter, the Commission may by 
regulation or otherwise regulate its own procedure and, with 
the consent of the President, may confer powers or impose 
duties on any public officer or authority for the purpose of 
the discharge of its functions.



(14) The Commission may, subject to its rules of procedure, act notwithstanding a vacancy in its membership 
or the absence of a member and its proceedings shall not 
be invalidated by the presence or participation of a person 
not entitled to be present at or to participate in those 
proceedings:


Provided that any decision of the Commission shall 
require the concurrence of a majority of all the members 
thereof.



Appointment etc., of public officers 


107. (1) Subject to this Constitution, the power to appoint 
persons to hold or act in offices in the public service and in 
the service of local authorities (including the power to confirm 
appointments), the power to exercise disciplinary control over 
persons holding or acting in those offices and the power to 
remove those persons from office shall vest in the Public 
Service Commission:


Provided that the Commission may, with the approval of 
the President and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, by 
directions in writing, deligate any of its powers under this 
section to any one or more of its members or to any officer in 
the public service or, in the case of appointments to the 
service of local authorities, to particular local authorities.




(2) Subject to this section and section 106 (12), provision 
may be made by or under an Act of Parliament for prescribing 
the manner of the exercise of the functions of the Public 
Service Commission under this section and for any matters 
incidental or supplementary to the exercise of those functions.




(3) No person shall be appointed under this section to or 
to act in an office on the personal staff of the President except 
with the concurrence of the President.




(4) Subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to any of the 
following offices in the public service-


     (a) the office of a judge of the High Court or the Court 
     of Appeal; 
     (b) the office of Attomey-General 
     (c) the office of Controller and Auditor-General 
     (d) so fat as relates to appointments thereto or to act 
     therein, the office of Chief Secretary, Permanent 
     Secretary, Secretary to the Cabinet, Director of 
     Personnel or Commissioner of Police; 
     (e) the office of Ambassador, High Commissioner or other 
     principal representative of Kenya in another 
     country; 
     (f) an office to which section 69 (which relates to offices 
     within the jurisdiction of the Judicial Service Commission) applies; or 
     (g) an office in the Kenya Police Force to which section 108 (2) (b) applies. 




Appointment etc., of members of Kenya Police Force


108. (1) The power to appoint a person to hold or act in 
the office of Commissioner of Police shall vest in the President. 
(2) The power to appoint persons to hold or act in offices 
in the Kenya Police Force (except the office of Commissioner 
of Police), including the power to confirm appointments, the 
power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or 
acting in those offices and the power to remove those persons 
from office shall vest-




     (a) in the case of offices of or above the rank of Assistant 
     Inspector, or such rank other than the rank of Assist- 
     ant Inspector as may be specified for the purposes 
     of this section by or under an Act of Parliament, in 
     the Public Service Commission; 
     (b) in the case of offices below the rank of Assistant 
     Inspector, or such other rank as may be specified as 
     aforesaid, in the Commissioner of Police: 
     Provided that-



          (i) the Commission may, by directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, delegate
          any 
          of its powers under this section to any one or more 
          members of the Commission or to the Commissioner; 
          (ii) the Commissioner may, by directions given in such 
          manner as he thinks fit and subject to such conditions 
          as he thinks fit, delegate any of his powers under this 
          section to any member of the Kenya Police Force. 





Attoney-General


109. (1) The Attorney-General shall be appointed by the 
President. 



(2) If the office of Attorney-General is vacant or if the 
Attorney-General is for any reason unable to exercise the functions of his office, the President may appoint a
person to act 
as Attorney-General, and a person so appointed shall, subjects to subsections (4), (6) and (8), continue to act until a

person has been appointed to the office of Attorney-General 
and has assumed the functions of that office or, as the case 
may be, until the person in whose place he is acting has 
resumed those functions. 



(3) A person shall not be qualified to be appointed to 
hold or to act in the office of Attorney-General unless he holds 
and has held for a total period of not less than five years one 
or other of the qualifications specified in paragraphs (a), (b), 
(c) and (d) of section 12 (1) of the Advocates Act as in force 
on 12th December, 1963. 



(4) Subject to subsection (6), the Attomey-General shall 
vacate his office when he attains such age as may be prescribed 
by Parliament. 



(5) The Attorney-General may be removed from office 
only for inability to exercise the functions of his office 
(whether arising from infinnity of body or mind or any other 
cause) or for misbehaviour, and shaIII not be removed except 
in accordance with this section. 


(6) The Attorney-General shall be removed from office 
by the President if the question of his removal from office has 
been referred to a tribunal appointed under subseotion (7) and 
the tribunal has recommended to the President that he ought 
to be removed for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour. 



(7) If the President considers that the question of removing the Attorney-General under this section ought to be 
investigaited, then- 



     (a) the President shalil appoint a tribunal which shall 
     consist of a chairman and four other members selected by the President from among persons- 

          (i) who hold or have held office as judge of the 
          High Court or judge of appeal; or 
          (ii) who are qualified to be appointed as judges of 
          the High Court under section 61(13); or 
          (iii) upon whom the rank of Senior Counsel has been 
          conferred by the President under section 17 of 
          the Advoctes Act; and 

     (b) the tribunal shall inquire into the matter and report 
     on the facts thereof to the President and recommend 
     to him whether the Attoney-General ought to be 
     removed under this section. 



(8) If 'the question of removing the Attorney-General has 
been referred to a tribunal under this section, the President 
may suspend the Attorney-General from the exercise of the 
functions of his office and any such suspension may at any 
time be revoked by the President, and shall in any case cease 
to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the President that 
the Attorney-General should not be removed.



Controller and Auditor-General


110. (1) The Controller and Auditor-General shall be 
appointed by the President. 



(2) If the office of Controller and Auditor-General is 
vacant or if the Controller and Auditor-General is for any 
reason unable to exercise the functions of his office, the 
President may appoint a person to act as Controller and 
Auditor-General, and a person so appointed shall, subject to 
subsedtions (3), (5) and (7) continue to act until a person has 
been appointed to the office of Controller and Auditor-General 
and has assumed the functions of that office or, as the case 
may be, until the person in whose place he is acting has resumed those functions. 



(3) Subject to subsection (5), the Controller and Auditor-General shall vacate his office when he attains such age
as 
may be prescribed by Parliament.




(4) A person holding the office of Controller and Auditor-General may be removed from office only for inability to 
discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for
misbehavior, 
and shall not be so removed except in accordance with this section. 




(5) The Controller and Auditor-General shall be removed 
from office by the President if the question of his removal 
from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under 
subsection (6) and the tribunal has recommended to the President that he ought to be removed for inabitilty as
aforesaid 
or for misbehaviour. 

(6) If the President censiders that the question of removing the Controller and Auditor-General under this section 
ought to be investigated, then--




     (a) the President shall appoint a tribunal which shall 
     consist of a chairman and four other members selected by the President from among persons-- 

          (i) who hold or have held office as judges of the 
          High Court or judges of appeal; or 

          (iii) who are qualified to be appointed as judges of 
          the High Court under section 61(3); or 

          (iii) upon whom the rank of Senior Counsel has been 
          conferred by the President under section 17 of 
          the Advocaites Act; and 


     (b) the tribunal shall inquire into the matter and report 
     on the facts thereof to the President and recommend 
     to him whether the Controller and Auditor-General 
     ought to be removed under this section. 



     (7) If the qustion of removing the Controller and Auditor-General has been referred to a tribunal under this
     section, the 
     President may suspend the Controller and AuditorGeneral 
     from the exercise of the functions of his office and any such 
     suspension may at any time be revoked by the President, and 
     shall in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal recomends 
     to the President that the Controller and Auditor-General should not be removed. 




Appointment of Permanent Secretaries, Ambassadors, etc. 



111. (1) The power to appoint a person to hold or act in 
the office of Permanent Secretary, Secretary to the Cabinet 
or Director of Personnel shall vest in the President



(2) The power to appoint a person to hold or act in the 
office of Ambassador, High Commissioner or other principal 
representative of Kenya in another country, and to remove 
from office a person holding or acting in any such office, 
shall vest in the President:


Provided that before exercising a power conferred by 
this subsection in relation to a person who holds an office 
in the public service, other than an office to which this subsection applies, the President shall consult the Public
Service 
Commmission.




Pension laws and protection of pensions 


112. (1) The law to be applied with respect to pensions benefits that were granted to a person before 12th 
December, 1963 shall be the law that was in force at the date 
on which those benefits were granted or any law in force at a 
later date that is not less favourable to that person. 



(2) The law to be applied with respect to pensions 
benefits (not being benefits to which subsection (1) applies) 
shall--



     (a) in so far as those benefits are wholly in respect of a 
     period of service as a public officer that commenced 
     before 12th December, 1963, be the law that was in 
     force on 11th December, 1963; and 

     (b) in so far as those benefits are wholly or partly in 
     respect of a period of service as a public officer that 
     commenced after 11th December, 1963, be the law 
     in force on the date on which that period of service 
     commenced, 
     or any law in force at a later date that is not less favourable 
     to that person. 



(3) Where a person is entitled to exercise an option as to 
which of two or more laws shall apply in this case, the law for 
which he opts shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed 
to be more favourable to him than the other law or laws. 


(4) All pensions benefits shall (except to the extent to 
which, in the case of benefits under the Provident Fund Act, 
the Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act, the Asian Widows' 
and Orphans' Pensions Act and the Asian Officers' Family 
Pensions Act or under any law amending or replacing any of 
those Acts, they are a charge on a fund established by any of 
those Acts or by any such law and have been duly paid out 
of that fund to the person or authority to whom payment is 
due) be charged upon the Consolidated Fund. 



(5) All sums that, under any of the Acts referred to in 
subsection (4) or under any law amending or replacing any of 
those Acts, are to be paid by the Government of Kenya into 
a fund established by any of those Acts or by any such law 
or are otherwise to be paid by the Government of Kenya for 
the purposes of any of those Acts or any such law shall be 
charged upon the Consolidated Fund.




(6) A person who is entitled to the payment of pensions benefits and who is ordinarily resident outside Kenya 
may, within a reasonable time after he has received that payment, remit the whole of it (free from any deduction,
charge 
or tax made or levied in respect of its remission) to any country 
of his choice outside Kenya:


Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as preventing-



     (i) the attachment, by order of a court, of a payment 
     or part of a payment to which a person is entitled 
     in satisfaction of the judgment of a court or pending 
     the determination of civil proceedings to which he is 
     a party to the extent to which that attachment is 
     permitted by the law with respect to pensions benefits that applies in the case of that person; or 
     (ii) the imposition of reasonable restrictions as to the 
     manner in which a payment is to be remitted. 



(7) In this section "pensions benefits" means any pensions, compensation, gratuities or other like allowances for 
persons in respect of their service as public officers or for the 
widows, children, dependants or personal representatives of 
those persons in respect of that service.




(8) References in this section to the law with respect to 
pensions benefits include (without prejudice to their generality) 
references to the law regulating the circumstances in which 
those benefits may be granted or in which the grant of those 
benefits may be refused, the law regulating the circumstances 
in which any such benefits that have been granted may be 
withheld, reduced in amount or suspended and the law 
regulating the amount of any such benefits. 



(9) For the purposes of this section-



     (a) an office in any naval, military or air foree established by or under any law made by a legislature 
     in Kenya; 
     (b) to the extent to which pensions benefits in respect of 
     service in such an office are payable under any of 
     the Acts referred to in subsection (4) or under any 
     law amending or replacing any of those Acts, 
     an office in the service of the East Africa High 
     Commission, the East African Common Services 
     Organization or the East African Community; and 
     (c) an office in the service of any of the following bodies 
     (which are bodies that are no longer in existence but 
     in respect of former service in which pensions arc 
     payable out of Kenya funds)-



          (i) the Combined Posts and Telegraphs Department 
          of Kenya and Uganda; 
          (ii) the Amalgamated Posts and Telegraphs Department of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika; 
          (iii) the Customs Department (Kenya and Uganda); 
          (iv) the Kenya and Uganda Joint Imports Control Organization; 
          (v) the Joint Income Tax Department; 
          (vi) the Kenya Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve; 
          (vii) the Northern Brigade, King's African Rifles; 
          (viii) the Zanzibar Branch Audit Office; 
          (ix) the following departments of the Conference of 
          East African Governors- 

               (a) the Secretariat; 
               (b) the British East Africa Meteorological Ser- 
               vice; 
               (c) the Statistical Section; 
               (d) the East African Production and Supply 
               Council; 
               (e) the East African War Supplies Board; 
               (I) the East African Directorate of Civil 
               Aviation; and 
               (g) the Directorate of Training. 
               shall be regarded as an office in the public service. 




Power to withold pensions

113. (1) Where under any law a person or authority 
has a discretion-



     (a) to decide whether or not any pensions benefits shall 
     be granted; or 
     (b) to withhold, reduce in amount or suspend any such 
     benefits that have been granted, 
     those benefits shall be granted and may not be withheld, 
     reduced in amount or suspended unless the Public Service 
     Commission concurs in the refusal to grant the benefits or, as 
     the case may be, in the decision to withhold them, reduce them 
     in amount or suspend them. 

(2) Where the amount of any pensions benefits that may 
be granted to a person is not fixed by law, the amount of 
the benefits to be granted to him shall be the greatest amount 
for which he is eligible unless the Public Service Commission 
concurs in his being granted benefits of a smaller amount. 

(3) The Public Service Coniinission shall not concur 
under subsection (1) or subsection (2) in any action taken on 
the ground that a person who holds or has held the office 
of judge of the High Court, judge of any Court of Appeal 
exercising jurisdiction in Kenya, Attorney-General or Controller and Auditor-General has been guilty of
misbehaviour 
in that office unless he has been removed from that office by 
reason of his misbehaviour.

(4) Before the Public Service Commission concurs under 
subsection (1) or subsection (2) in any action taken on the 
ground that a person who holds or has held any office to 
which, at the time of the aotion, section 69 applies has been 
guilty of misbehaviour in that office, the Public Service Commission shall consult the Judicial Service Commission. 

(5) In this section "pensions benefits" means any pensions, compensation, gratuities or other similar allowances for 
persons in respect of their service as public officers or for the 
widows, children, dependants or personal representatives of 
those persons in respect of that service. 

(6) For the purposes of this section an office shall be 
regarded as an office in the public service that is by virtue of 
section 112 (9) regarded as an office in the public service for 
the purposes of that section. 
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