126. (1) If the President so requests, the authorities having power to make appointments in any branch of the public service shall consider and report to the President whether there are more candidates belonging to Kenya (hereinafter referred to as "local candidates") who are suitably qualified for appointment to, or promotion in, that branch than there are vacancies in that branch that could appropriately be filled by the local candidates; if those authorities report to the President that such is the case, the authority having power to remove from office persons holding office in that branch (in this subsection and in subsection (2) referred to as "the nominating authority" shall, if so requested by the President, select officers to whom this section applies who are serving in that branch and whose retirement would, in the opinion of the nominating authority, cause vacancies that could appropriately be filled by such suitably qualified local candidates as are available and fit for appointment and inform the President of the number of officers so selected; if the President specifies a number of officers to be called upon to vacate their appointments (not exceeding the number of officers so selected), the nominating authority shall nominate that number of officers from among the officers so selected and the provisions of subsections (2), (3), and (4) shall apply in the case of any officer so nominated.

(2) The nominating authority shall report the name of the officer to the chairman of the Public Service Commission who in turn shall circulate that name to the authority having power to make appointments in any branch of the public service in which the officer is eligible for appointment; and each such authority shall then consider whether there is any vacancy to which it is willing to appoint the officer.

(3) If an authority indicates to the chairman of the Public Service Commission that it is willing to appoint the officer to fill a vacancy the officer shall be so informed and that appointment shall be made, but without prejudice to the right of the officer to retire voluntarily from the public service in the manner provided by any law:

Provided that where more than one authority is willing to appoint the officer to fill a vacancy, the Public Service Commission shall decide which vacancy he shall be appointed to fill.

(4) If no authority is willing to appoint the officer to fill a vacancy, the chairman of the Public Service Commission, shall by notice in writing so inform him and require him to retire from the public service, and he shall retire accordingly.

(5) A notice given under subsection (4) requiring an officer to retire from the public service shall -

(a) in the case of an officer who, when he receives the notice, is on leave of absence upon the completion of a tour of duty, specify the date on which he shall so retire which shall be not earlier than the expiration of six months from the date when he receives the notice or, if his leave of absence would otherwise expire later, when it would otherwise expire; and

(b) in the case of any other officer, specify the period, which shall be not less than six months from the date when he receives the notice, at the expiration of which he shall proceed upon leave of absence pending retirement:

Provided that the officer may agree to the notice specifying an earlier date or, as the case may be, a shorter period.

(6) In determining the date or the period to be specified in pursuance of subsection (5) in a notice given to an officer, the chairman of the Public Service Commission shall act in accordance with the advice of the authority that nominated that officer under subsection (1).

(7) This section applies to an officer who holds a pensionable office in the public service and-

(a) is designated under the Overseas Service Aid Scheme; or

(b) is a member of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service or Her Majesty's Overseas Judiciary; or

(c) whose conditions of service include an entitlement to free passages from East Africa for the purpose of leave of absence, other than sabbatical leave, upon the completion of a tour of duty; or

(d) is an overseas officer who, after 11th December, 1963, is appointed to any office in the public service (otherwise than on promotion or transfer from another such office) and who is notified at the time of his appointment that this section will apply to him.

(8) In this section "overseas officer" means an officer in the public service who is, either individually or as a member of a class, declared by the appropriate Commission to be an overseas officer, and "the appropriate Commission" means -

(a) in relation to an officer who can be removed from his office by the Judicial Service Commission, that Commission; and

(b) in any other case, the Public Service Commission.