References: The government recently established the Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC) via gazette notice No. 5826 of June 29, 2007 and No. 6327 of July 13, 2007. The PCSC is mandated to "receive, register, sort, classify and document all complaints against public officers in Ministries, Parastatals/State Corporations, Statutory Bodies or any other public institution. In addition, the PCSC is mandated to inquire into allegations of misuse of office, corruption, and unethical conduct, breach of integrity, maladministration, delay, injustice, discourtesy, inattention, incompetence, misbehavior, inefficiency or ineptitude."

Prior to PCSC's establishment, the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights had acted quite effectively as an ad hoc ombudsman.

See [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: It should be noted that the office was created by executive action and It can also be scrapped by the same executive action by merely revoking gazette notice number 5826 of June 29, 2007, & no. 6327 of July 13, 2007.

(i) Shall be responsible to His Excellency the President; (ii) Shall prepare quarterly reports for his Excellency the President;

See [ LINK ]

References: Kenya Law Reports, Kenya Gazette, Vol. CIX-No. 42, June 29, 2007.

Peer Review Comments: Because the office was created by the president and not any law, it means the officer is not independent of the executive, which is the president. The office is not shielded by the law.

References: To the extent that it is appointed by, and reports to the president, it is unlikely that the Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC) will operate independently. In any case, the Committee only began serious operations in August 2008, meaning we have yet to see the fruits of its labor. That people are skeptical of the Committee's effectiveness is probably reflected in a recent TV talk show where the PCSC chair was at great pains to illustrate the academic credentials of Committee members.

Peer Review Comments: The president created the office, so the office reports to him. There is no independence of any kind.

Peer Review Comments: Also, since the Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC) was launched in 2007, no proper reasons or explanations have been given for the delays in implementing its programs.

References: Constitution of Kenya (Section 23 (1)).

Peer Review Comments: There is no protection of any sort. The office exists at the president's pleasure and can disappear as a result of the same pleasure.

Peer Review Comments: Under Section 23 (1) of the Constitution, the President is vested with Executive Powers to appoint an official and the same powers may be vested to any of his subordinate officers. The section does not provide a constitutional caveat for the tenure of service of the appointed official.

The underlying facts on tenure of service is provided under subsidiary legislation via Gazette notice number 6327. The notice provides for a period of 3 years.

Further, PCSC shall have a Secretariat consisting of:

(i) The Executive Director appointed by the Minister responsible for matters related to the administration of justice, who shall be head of the Secretariat: and (ii) Such other members of staff appointed by the Committee as the Committee may deem necessary.

See [ LINK ]

References: Kenya Law Reports, Kenya Gazette, Vol. CIX-No. 42, June 29, 2007. [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: As of June 2008, the Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC) has been operating below capacity, handling only 36 complaints a day. Its optimum rate is supposed to be 200 complaints a day. Moreover, since its establishment, it continues to operate from temporary offices.

[ LINK ].

References: The Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC) is operationally new, meaning it is still not clear what institutional structures it will adopt and how it will staff these. However, the initial appointments to the Committee seem to emphasize legal training. If the Committee will handle complaints from all government departments, then it will be necessary to acquire technocrats with diverse educational qualifications.

Peer Review Comments: The reasons for not actually appointing an Executive Official until the appointment is published in the Gazette are not clear. That, by itself, creates room for political speculation. This factor continues to bear (negatively) on the independence and autonomy of agencies -- for instance, as was seen in the role of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) in the recent 2007 General Elections.

References: As with the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR), the Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC) has been established under the Justice Governance Law Order and Security (JGLOS) program of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. JGLOS is a sector-wide approach to governance funding. However, when KNCHR tried to cut an independent path, it was punished through denial of funding and other forms of repression. One would not expect the PCSC to have the same ability to stand up to the minister, especially because of its lower statutory profile, being based on an executive decision rather than a parliamentary mandate.

References: The agency is new and has yet to make any reports.

References: The Committee is new and has yet to make public any such information.

References: Besides the Committee being new, imposition of penalties is not within its mandate. It merely investigate complaints within its mandate in conjunction with the relevant government department.

References: It is the expectation that the government will act conclusively on complaints forwarded to it by the Committee. However, being a new enterprise, we have yet to see what actually happens.

References: One expects complaints to be addressed in a reasonable amount of time, however, there has yet to be a test case of promptness of action.

Peer Review Comments: The Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC) is understaffed and works below capacity, which continues to limit their ability to promptly provide reports.

References: Kenya Law Reports, Kenya Gazette, Vol. CIX-No. 42, June 29, 2007. [ LINK ], the Committee has yet to establish systems.

References: There is no precedent to go by since the Committee is new.

References: There is no precedent to go by since the Committee is new.