It will be possible for students now to pursue specialized degrees in national security matters after President William Ruto signed into law Universities Act (Cap.210), which gives him power to establish more than one degree-awarding institution on national security issues.
The amendment is one of the 16 Acts of Parliament that the president assented to today, April 24, which also provides that declaration of institutions as technical universities will only apply to public institutions that are or previously were a National Polytechnic, or have the requisite facilities and human resource capacity for a technical university.
This will ensure that technical universities have the requisite facilities and human resource capacity to train university students.
The Bill, which was sponsored by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, also amended the Industrial Training Act to align the remittance date of the training levy with PAYE remittance to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), aiming to boost employer compliance.
This is meant to enhance KRA collections, which will fund intern wages and support technical and vocational education training and higher education operations.
In a bold step towards environmental protection and conservation, the Bill amends the Public Holidays Act, renaming Utamaduni Day as Mazingira Day to be observed on October 10 every year.
Mazingira Day will be a day for all Kenyans to engage in environmental conservation activities to accelerate the 10-year 15 billion tree-planting programme that includes forest, wetland and rangeland restoration.
To strengthen human resource operations in the Attorney-General’s office, the Office of the Attorney-General Act has been amended to introduce an advisory board that will recommend for appointment and promotion Deputy Solicitors-General and State Counsels.
The board comprises the Attorney-General as Chair and Principal Secretaries (PSs) of Public Service and the National Treasury, the Public Service Commission (PSC) chairperson, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President, and chairman of the Council of the Institute Human Resource Management as members.
This change aims to address the issue of inadequate personnel to fulfill its functions, stemming from poor terms of employment for State Counsel and the absence of a comprehensive scheme of service for the officers.
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Bill 2023 of the National Assembly Bill No.68 was considered and passed by the National Assembly on Thursday March 21, 2023 and presented to the President for assent.
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By Brian Ndigo
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