Cabinet considered and approved the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2019 which the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs presented as chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Legislation.

Some of the salient amendments to be effected will include the following:

(a) provision, under Section 94 of subsection (2) to allow the President-elect, as soon as he assumes office, to appoint two persons to be Vice Presidents, who shall take their oaths of Office before the Chief Justice or the next senior judge available as set out in the Third Schedule;

(b) setting out in Section 95 the conditions under which a Vice President will vacate office, which include resignation, removal by the President, serious misconduct, failure to uphold the Constitution or inability to perform the functions of the office due to physical or mental incapacity; (c) inclusion under Section 180 of a subsection allowing the President, upon recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission, to appoint a sitting judge to be judge of a higher court wherever a vacancy at such a court arises;

(d) appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court for a non-renewable term of not more than 15 years, who may also be appointed as judges of the Supreme Court or High Court if they are eligible for such appointment, after completion of their term;

(e) that the retirement age for judges of the High Court, Labour Court and any other judges will be 70 years;

(f) that the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice, and judges of the Supreme and Constitutional Courts will hold office until they reach the age of 70 years, and thereafter may have their contracts renewed annually, upon production of a medical fitness certificate for a period not exceeding five years;

(g) insertion of a new section in the Constitution after Section 204 to include the appointment of the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet and his or her deputies by the President, in consultation with the Civil Service Commission, whose terms and conditions of service shall be as fixed by the President;

(h) appointment of the Public Protector and Deputy Public Protector by the Presiden, after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission and the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders; and

(i) appointment of a Prosecutor-General by the President in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.