History of the RCPSB
The Certified Public Secretaries profession in Kenya is traced to the establishment of the Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examinations Board (KASNEB) in 1969. The mandate of KASNEB was to examine both Certified Public Accountants and Certified Public Secretaries in Kenya. The Kenya Government appointed a working party on the Certified Public Secretaries’ profession in 1978, which made its report to the Attorney General in June 1981, where the enactment of the legal framework on the Certified Public Secretaries’ Profession was recommended. In November 1988, the Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya Act, Cap 534 was enacted by Parliament and became operational on November 1, 1989. The Act set out the functions of the Board as to register qualified secretaries and issue practicing certificates.
The first Board was appointed by the Vice President and Minister of Finance on 4th December 1989 and gazetted on 5th January 1990. The Board had its first Board meeting on 7th February 1990 at the National Treasury.
Mandate
The Registration of Certified Public Secretaries Board as stated in the CPS Act, Cap 534 is mandated to:
- To register qualified Certified Secretaries (Section 19).
- To issue Practicing Certificates to qualified Certified Secretaries (Section 16).
- To consider and approving additional Qualifications which the Board considers sufficient to allow a person to be registered (Section 20 (2).
- To conduct due diligence to determine the integrity and suitability of a person to be considered fit and proper to be registered. Section 20 (3).
- To maintain the Register of Certified Secretaries (Section 22).
- To cancel Registration of a member subject to provisions of Act (Section 23).
- To regulate the Professional Conduct of members of the Institute by advising the Minister (Section 24).
- To receive and review Disciplinary Decisions of the Disciplinary Committee and of the Council of the Institute. [Section 27 (3(b) and Section 28]