With the permission of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has delegated to Permanent Secretaries the power to appoint persons within the public sector who will be paid between the GS 1 (minimum wage) and GS 3 salary scales ($76,016).
Previously, these officers were only able to appoint staff as high as the GS2 salary scale ($72,053).
According to a notice in this week’s Official Gazette, officers such as the numerous clerks employed within the various government ministries and departments will be employed by Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Department not under Ministerial control, Regional Executive Officers, the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Judicature and the Director of Public Prosecutions as per the approved Estimates of Expenditure.
The delegation of responsibility is per Article 201(2) of the constitution and is subject to several terms and conditions, including that the delegated authority may select and interview suitably qualified candidates for appointment by the PSC for those positions listed in the Authorised Inventory of Positions on the GS 1 to GS 3 Salary scale and that the delegated authority shall apply the principles of selection prescribed in Chapter III of the 1998 Public Service Commission Rules.
Additionally, all information used during the process of interview, inclusive of the score sheet, shall, on final selection of a suitable candidate, be sent forthwith to the PSC while the candidate selected for appointment shall not assume substantively the duties of the post, until the PSC approves of the appointment even as the PSC reserves the right to reject the selected candidate if after reviewing the information if it is of the considered opinion that the candidate is not suitable for appointment to the post.
Finally, a Permanent Secretary, Head of Department not under Ministerial control, Regional Executive Officer, Clerk of the National Assembly, Registrar of the Supreme Court of Judicature and Director of Public Prosecutions shall submit to the PSC, once in every quarter, a report of the exercise of the powers delegated to them.
Article 201(2) grants the PSC the right, with the consent of the Prime Minister, to delegate its powers to any public officer or the Clerk of the National Assembly.
