Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura had defended the decision by President William Ruto to create 7 new state departments.
Speaking during a radio interview on Tuesday, March 25, Mwaura explained that the positions were created to enhance service delivery.
The government spokesperson added that there was no limit on the state departments in government.
Consequently, he explained that state departments are only created based on the services the government needs to offer Kenyans.
“If you look at the costs and the services that we are supposed to give, that is a move that should be praised and not condemned and I do not think that there was any promise that we would reduce the number of state departments,” Mwaura explained.
“We only have 22 ministries, we have not added them but for state departments, there is no limit. It depends on service delivery.”
Further, he noted that the created departments were necessary citing the human rights department that was created under the office of the Attorney General.
“There is a human rights department under the officer of the Attorney General. Do we need that State Department? Yes, we need it so that they can look at issues of human rights. Judith Pereno was given that docket and she is someone that I have worked with before,” he added.
The creation of the new state departments has raised eyebrows among Kenyans given that there have been calls for austerity measures within the government.
Currently, each PS earns a salary of Ksh792,519. Therefore, the 7 new PS positions will attract an additional expenditure of Ksh5.5 million per month. Notably, with their staff, the monthly expenditure could increase significantly.
