Former nominated senator Millicent Omanga has denied claims of receiving government salary for the now-defunct position of Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS).
The controversy arose after allegations surfaced that she had collected a payment of Sh700,000 from State House for the CAS role.
Omanga was initially appointed as Interior CAS by President William Ruto in March 2023 as part of the President’s 50 CAS appointments. However, a court ruled that the CAS positions were unconstitutional.
Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai on Sunday claimed that Omanga had received the payment in question. He further questioned the legality of compensating individuals for roles declared unconstitutional by the courts.
In response to Alai’s claims, Omanga dismissed the allegations as false, asserting that they were a distortion of facts. However, she humorously invited Alai to inform her if such payments were indeed occurring, suggesting she would share the information with him.
The position of CAS was introduced by former President Uhuru Kenyatta on January 26, 2018, to enhance ministerial operations. Officeholders were intended to assist Cabinet Secretaries and coordinate departmental activities led by Principal Secretaries.
However, the legality of the CAS positions came into question after a court ruling on April 20, 2021, deemed them unconstitutional following a challenge by activist and current Busia Senator Okiya Omtata.
Despite this, Ruto appointed 50 new CASs in March 2023, only to face another setback when the courts reiterated the unconstitutionality of the positions three months later.
A three-judge bench emphasized that the law was not adhered to in establishing the CAS office, highlighting concerns about over-delegation and lack of proper constitutional provisions for the additional roles created beyond the initial 23 positions.
