How is the Cabinet Agenda drawn up?
- The Deputy Head of Public Service and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet proposes the draft Cabinet Agenda based on the following criteria;
- A Presidential Directive to present a given Cabinet Memo within a specified timeframe;
- Requiring Parliamentary Approval E.g. Loan or Bill;
- International obligations with timelines for example, Reports, Covenants etc.;
- Emergency Situations such as disasters;
- Spillover of Cabinet Business from the previous Meetings.
- The Agenda is submitted to H.E. the Vice President on Tuesdays for approval. It is distributed with the Minutes of the last Cabinet Meeting by Thursday every week. In exceptional cases such as Special Cabinet Meetings, the Agenda can be distributed without the Minutes.
How are submissions to Cabinet done?
- Permanent Secretaries submit draft Submissions to Cabinet and request for reviews and issuance of Cabinet Paper numbers. The Secretaries in the Office of the Deputy Head of Public Service and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet receive Draft Cabinet Papers which are stamped and recorded in the register.
- The Deputy Head of Public Service and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet forwards the draft Submissions to Cabinet to the Commissioner, Policy Development and Capacity Building for detailed review and this usually takes one to three days. The review seeks to ascertain whether the submission meets relevant criteria such as: Compliance to Regulatory Best Practices (RBP), font size, right spacing, proper structuring, relevant references certificate of financial implication and having relevant information and data;
- The Review Comments are generated and relevant guidance issued to the submitting Ministry for amendments where there is need;
- The draft Submission is sent back to Deputy Head of Public Service and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet together with the Review Comments for further guidance. He/She may concur with the comments by the Department of Policy Development and Capacity Building but where there are questions/issues, the Department of policy Development and Capacity Building is summoned to provide clarity;
- If the contents of the submitted Cabinet Paper are not up to the required Standard of Submissions to Cabinet, as per the Review Comments, it is sent back to the responsible Permanent Secretary to make the necessary improvements;
- The submitting Ministry may require technical guidance in making the necessary improvements to the Submission. In that case, a formal request should be sent to the DHPS&DSC who can allocate an officer(s) to provide the necessary guidance within a week of receipt of the request.
- Otherwise, if the paper meets all the standard requirements, a Cabinet Paper number is issued by the Secretary, recorded in Memorandum Book, and the Draft submission to Cabinet is sent back to the Permanent Secretary for production of the Final Paper and resubmission of 125 copies printed on pink sheets, to Cabinet Secretariat;
- It is a requirement that Cabinet Papers are delivered by Technical Officers to clarify on any issues that may come up during submission;
- Before receiving any Submission to Cabinet Memorandum, the following should be cross checked:
- Title of the Memorandum or Cabinet Information Paper;
- Cabinet Paper Number;
- Sponsoring Ministry;
- Salient (salient?) features such as; the Font size, Format, spacing in the document, required attachments, inscription of the word SECRET on the Header of every Page, Page Numbers etc.;
- That review comments have been incorporated;
- 3 copies of Briefing Notes are attached;
- Soft copy of a Power Point Presentation;
- If it is a loan request, clearance is granted by the Loan Clearance Committee chaired by the Rt.Hon. Prime Minister;
- If the Paper has financial implications, a Certificate of Financial Implications is issued by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development;
- In case of a request for appointment of a Board, a clearance letter from the Minister, Office of the President (Security) is attached.
- The Secretaries in the Office of the Deputy Head of Public Service and Deputy Secretary to Cabinet check again whether the Cabinet Memoranda are also accompanied by Briefing Notes and a soft copy of a Power Point Presentation.
- Addendums/Revised Cabinet Papers arise out of the directive of Cabinet to provide additional information on a given Cabinet Paper that had been previously issued with a Cabinet Memorandum Number, discussed and deferred. In this case, the original Cabinet Paper should always be attached to the addendum.
The Revised Cabinet Memo’s/addendum are issued with the same Memorandum numbers.
- Cabinet Papers that were issued Cabinet Memo Numbers the previous year but were not promptly submitted within that particular Calendar Year can be received until the end of February of the subsequent Calendar year. After February, the sponsoring Ministry has to request for a new Memo Number.