This Act may be cited as the Public Appointments (County Assemblies Approval) Act, 2017.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
means any person who, under the Constitution or any other law, is required to make an appointment for which the approval of a County Assembly is required;
includes any re-appointment to the same body, whether or not in the same capacity;
means a person who has been proposed or nominated for appointment to a public office;
means the Clerk of the relevant County Assembly; and
means the relevant committee of a County Assembly or such other committee as the Speaker of the County Assembly may, for good reason, direct.
The objects and purposes of this Act are to—
provide for the procedure for the approval of public appointments by County Assemblies; and
provide clarity and guidance to the County Assemblies as they exercise their functions of approving public appointments.
An appointment under the Constitution or any other law for which the approval of a County Assembly is required shall not be made unless the appointment is approved by the relevant County Assembly in accordance with this Act.
An advertisement inviting applications for nomination for appointment to an office to which this Act applies shall specify that the candidate shall be required to appear before a committee of the relevant County Assembly.
An applicant shall not be required to appear before the committee of a County Assembly pursuant to a notice issued under subsection (1) within a period of less than twenty-one days.
An appointing authority shall, upon nominating a person for an appointment to which this Act applies, notify the relevant County Assembly accordingly.
An appointing authority shall, in issuing a notice under subsection (1), notify the members of the public on the proposed nomination through such media and platforms established under section 91 of the County Governments Act, 2012 (No. 17 of 2012) as it considers appropriate.
A notification under subsection (1) shall be—
in writing;
lodged with the Clerk of the County Assembly.
A notification of nomination shall be accompanied by information concerning the nominee, having regard to the issues specified under section 7.
For the purposes of this Act, a notification of nomination shall be deemed to be duly given on the day on which it complies fully with subsections (3) and (4).
Following the receipt of the notification of nomination under section 6(3)(b), the Speaker shall report the receipt of the notification to the County Assembly, following which the notification shall be committed to the relevant committee of the Assembly.
Subject to subsection (3), the chair of the committee shall determine the time and place for the holding of the approval hearing which shall not be later than fourteen days from the date of the committal of the notification to the committee.
The approval hearings shall be held in a public place and shall be conducted during working hours.
The Clerk shall notify a candidate of the time and place for the holding of an approval hearing by notice in at least two newspapers of national circulation and by writing and such other form of communication as the Clerk shall consider appropriate.
The committee shall, by notice in at least one newspaper of national circulation, notify the public of the time and place for holding an approval hearing at least seven days prior to the hearing.
Subject to this Act, all committee proceedings on public appointments shall be open and transparent.
Despite subsection (6), a committee may, on its own motion or on the application of a candidate or any other concerned person, determine that the whole or part of its sittings shall be held in camera.
An approval hearing shall focus on a candidate's academic credentials, professional training and experience, personal integrity and background.
The criteria specified in the First Schedule and the assessment form specified in the Second Schedule shall be used by a committee during an approval hearing for the purposes of vetting a candidate.
Any person may, prior to the approval hearing, and by written statement on oath, provide the Clerk with evidence contesting the suitability of a candidate to hold the office to which the candidate has been nominated.
A candidate shall have a right to be heard on any statement or evidence submitted to the Clerk contesting the suitability of the candidate to hold the office to which the candidate has been nominated.
A candidate may, at any time, by notice in writing addressed to the Clerk, withdraw from the approval process and the candidate's nomination shall thereupon lapse.
The issues for consideration by the relevant County Assembly in relation to any nomination shall be—
the procedure used to arrive at the nominee including the criteria for the short listing of the nominees;
any constitutional or statutory requirements relating to the office in question; and
the suitability of the nominee for the appointment proposed having regard to whether the nominee's credentials, abilities, experience and qualities meet the needs of the body to which the nomination is being made.
Unless otherwise provided in any law, a committee shall consider a nomination and table its report in the County Assembly for debate and decision within twenty-one sitting days from the date on which the committee first sits to consider the nomination.
At the conclusion of an approval hearing, the committee shall prepare its report on the suitability of the candidate to be appointed to the office to which the candidate has been nominated and shall include in the report such recommendations as the Committee may consider necessary, including a recommendation on whether or not the nominee should be approved for appointment to public office.
Where the nomination of a candidate is rejected by a County Assembly, the appointing authority shall submit to the County Assembly the name of another candidate, and the procedure for approval specified in this Act shall apply accordingly.
A nominating authority shall not resubmit the name of a candidate whose nomination has been rejected by the County Assembly unless the circumstances relied on for the rejection of the appointment of the candidate did not exist or ceased to exist at the time of rejecting the nomination of the candidate.
The Clerk shall notify the appointing authority of the decision of the County Assembly within fourteen days of the decision.
The appointing authority shall, upon the approval of the nominees for appointment by the County Assembly and subject to the applicable written law, appoint the nominee within a period of seven days from the date of notification of the decision of the Assembly under subsection (1).
The committee shall have power to summon any person to appear before it for the purpose of giving evidence or providing information during the approval hearing.
For the purposes of subsection (1), the committee shall have the same powers as the High Court to—
enforce the attendance of witnesses and examine them on oath, affirmation or otherwise;
compel the production of documents; and
issue a commission or request to examine witnesses abroad.
Any person who is summoned by the committee and who—
disobeys any order made by a committee for attendance or for production of papers, books, documents or records; or
gives false or misleading information or refuses to be examined before, or to answer any relevant question put by, a committee;
commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.
For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act may be construed as providing for or dealing with—
taxes;
the imposition of charges on a public fund or the variation or repeal of any of those charges;
the appropriation, receipt, custody, investment or issue of public money;
the raising or guaranteeing of any loan or its repayment; or
matters incidental to any of those matters.
There may be established a fund which shall consist of monies specified under subsection (3).
Any expenses that may be occasioned in the implementation of this Act shall be provided from—
such gifts, grants or donations as may be given;
such monies as may, in the future, be provided by the National Assembly for defraying the expenses incurred in the implementation of this Act; and
such other monies that may lawfully accrue in the discharge of the functions under this Act, not being monies accruing pursuant to Article 114 of the Constitution.