8.       Head of the Public Service

          (1) The Permanent Secretary to the President shall be the head of the public service and shall, subject to the Constitution and this Act, be responsible for the administration of the public service.

          (2) The Permanent Secretary to the President may make rules or regulations or give instructions for managing the conduct of the public service.

          (3) Any rules or regulations made, or instructions given, in terms of subsection (2) shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Act and shall be complied with by all public officers.

          (4) Notwithstanding the generality of the provisions of subsection (1), the Permanent Secretary to the President shall-

    (a)     appoint the senior management of the public service;

    (b)     enter into performance agreements with the Permanent Secretaries and supervise and monitor their performance and exercise disciplinary control over them;

    (c)     coordinate the activities of the Permanent Secretaries;

    (d)     ensure that Permanent Secretaries implement the national priorities determined by Cabinet;

    (e)     introduce and manage public service management systems and related reforms; and

    (f)      have overall responsibility over all public officers.

          (5) The Permanent Secretary to the President may at any time exercise the functions of any other Permanent Secretary in any matter falling under this Act, and if the Permanent Secretary to the President does so, he or she and not the other Permanent Secretary shall be regarded, for the purposes of that matter, as that other Permanent Secretary.

9.       Permanent Secretaries' functions

          (1) In addition to the function vested in the Permanent Secretary by section 52 of the Constitution, the Permanent Secretary shall be the chief accounting officer of a Ministry under his or her supervision.

          (2) Without limiting the generality of the provisions of subsection (1), the Permanent Secretary shall be responsible for-

    (a)     initiating, formulating and implementing the policies of the Ministry under his or her supervision;

    (b)     formulating the Strategic Plan of the Ministry under his or her supervision in accordance with the performance agreement entered into with the Permanent Secretary to the President;

    (c)     ensuring that the services rendered by the Ministry supervised by him or her are delivered in accordance with the principles enshrined in the National Vision, the Public Service Charter, the Public Service Code of Conduct and the objectives of this Act;

    (d)     exercising the human resource functions delegated to him or her by the Director;

    (e)     agreeing the individual annual performance agreements and performance development plans of the public officers supervised by him or her, and supervising and monitoring their performance; and

    (f)      implementing public service reforms.

          (3) The Permanent Secretary shall exercise the powers under subsection (2) subject to the general control and directions of the Minister responsible for the Ministry concerned.

10.     Heads of Departments

          The administrative head of a department shall be known as a Head of Department, and his or her functions shall be as delegated by the Permanent Secretary to the President.

11.     Director of Public Service Management

          (1) There shall be a Director of Public Service Management, in this Act referred to as" the Director" , who shall be a public officer appointed by the President.

          (2) The Director shall, subject to the Constitution and this Act, be respon-sible for human resource policy formulation, and the following matters-

    (a)     administration of the terms and conditions of service;

    (b)     the administration of instructions given and rules and regulations made in terms of section 8 (2);

    (c)     the recruitment of public officers, including volunteers and technical assistance personnel;

    (d)     public service establishment;

    (e)     human resource audits;

    (f)      staff performance appraisals and service level agreements;

    (g)     salary administration and grading of jobs;

    (h)     public service training policy;

    (i)      discipline, staff training;

    (j)      wellness and safety;

    (k)     localization and staff development programmes;

    (l)      process enhancement and organisation and methods;

    (m)    the approval of employees' career paths;

    (n)     human resource information system;

    (o)     job evaluation;

    (p)     human resource management reforms;

    (q)     vacancy management;

    (r)      determination of public service competencies;

    (s)     recognition of trade unions; and

    (t)      such other matters as may be prescribed.

12.     Directions of the President

          The exercise of any powers or the performance of any duties under this Act shall be subject to such general directions of the President as the President may consider necessary.