President William Ruto has signed legislation that seeks to expedite the privatisation of state-owned corporations by granting the National Treasury the authority to sell off the entities without the approval of Parliament.

The President, who is on a tour of Kisumu and Siaya counties in the Nyanza region, signed the Privatisation Act 2023 on Monday, hoping that it will spur his plans to sell a number of State-owned firms through the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) this year.

In June, the president stated that his administration would consider IPOs for six to ten companies.

The Privatisation Commission has identified 25 entities for state divestiture, including the Kenya Pipeline Company, the Kenya Ports Authority, the Kenya Tourist Development Corporation, the Consolidated Bank, the Development Bank of Kenya, and the Agrochemical and Food Corporation.

Chemilil Sugar, South Nyanza, Nzoia, Miwani, and Muhoroni are among the state millers on the list.

The new Act eliminates methods proposed in the 2005 law, such as liquidation and leasing.

Under the proposed changes, Treasury CS will appoint members of the Privatisation Authority without oversight from Parliament, giving the exchequer a greater role in the entity’s operation.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) offered rare support to the changes as it noted that the repeal of the Privatization Act 2005 will grant the government a clearer framework within which it will seamlessly run the privatization program.

The budget office said privatizing state-owned businesses might generate Sh30 billion in annual revenue.
In a report on budget options for FY 2023–2024, PBO highly recommended the privatization of parastatals to improve the financial status of State Owned Enterprises, projecting that the move will generate revenues of up to Sh30 billion annually.