Confusion in parties over State jobs

By WAHOME THUKU

Confusion reigns over whether political party officials can continue holding their seats even after being appointed to other positions in the Government.

This has been brought to the fore by the recent appointment of TNA Secretary General Onyango Oloo as the Chairman of the Lake Basin Development Authority and that of Alliance Party of Kenya chairman Titus Ibui to head the Kenya Leather Development Council board.

On one hand the Constitution only prohibits appointed State Officers from holding political party positions. Article 77(2) provides that any appointed State Officer shall not hold office in a political party.

This leaves the elected State Officers - President, Deputy President, governors, their deputies, MPs and county assembly members - to double up as party officials.

However, State officers are only a small, selected portion of the public officers in the Constitution.

According to TNA Chairman Johnson Sakaja, who is also nominated MP, the appointment of Oloo as parastatal chairman would not affect his position as TNA secretary general.

Sakaja argued that a parastatal chairman is not a State Officer hence Onyango would keep the two posts.

Resign before polls

However, while as the Constitution does not prohibit public officers other than appointed State officers, from holding the political party posts, they are prohibited from doing so by the Political Parties Act.

According to the Constitution a public officer is anyone who holds an office in the national government, county governments or the public service, if the remuneration and benefits of the office are payable directly from the Consolidated Fund or directly out of money provided by Parliament.

Section 12 of the Act then bars public officers from holding any office in a political party, engaging in political activities that may compromise or be seen to compromise the political neutrality of that person’s office or publicly indicate support for or opposition to any political party or candidate in an election.

It’s this law that has been applied to compel public officers seeking political posts to resign before polls.

The legal questions being explored are whether chairmen of parastatals are categorised as public officers.