The government through the National Treasury has announced a plan to privatise various companies that belong to the government under the privatisation program 2023.
The privatisation program will see a total of eleven parastatals that will become private entities. This comes after parliament passed a law that the executive will not need parliament approval for privatisation. READ: Privatisation Of State Corporations Don’t Need Parliamentary Approval
Some of the companies that have been listed as the program kicks off for the first time inclide: Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), National Oil Corporation (NOC), Kenya Seed Company Limited, Mwea Rice Mills, and Western Kenya Rice Mills Limited.
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In addition to these companies, Kenya Pipeline Company, New Kenya Cooperative Creameries, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited, Rivatex East Africa Limited and Numerical Machining Complex will also be among the first lot of companies to be axed by the program.
According to the government, these entities will be effective and efficient under private ownership. This is because under public ownershipy, the parastatals are not bringing in enough revenue as it should. Therefore with privatisation, they will achieve their much needed potential.
Other reasons for privatisation program 2023 include monopolistic characteristics in the market, loss making entities that depend on government support from time to time, liquidity reasons, legal cases affecting companies and “mature enough to be sold to the private sector.“
The government has however been encouraged to voice in their opinions about the program on or before Monday 11th December for review.
In a notice signed by Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u, the treasury is calling upon members of the public to submit written comments and/or input/memoranda on the 2023 privatisation program in the prescribed format and send them to [email protected].