President William Ruto on Monday the 9th of October signed the Privatisation Bill 2023 that will allow government to sell government corporations without the approval of government as it “delays the process”.
The government through the National treasury has already provided a list of up to 10 entities to be sold out. The entities include The Kenya Ports Authority, The Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Meat Company, Consolidation Bank and The Development Bank Of Kenya.
Five sugar millers including Sony Sugar, Muhoroni, Chemelil, Nzoia and miwani are among those in the privatisation radar. Planning to reduce shares is also in the plan as government looks to sell it’s shares in KenGen, National Bank of kenya and the East Africa Portland Cement.
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This comes even after firm opposition by Azimio coalition who think that the whole process won’t be transparent. Opiyo Wandayi, the minority leader said in a statement:
“What will stop the new managers from repeating the same mistakes? We must deal with past historical injustices. Perpetrators of sugar industry collapse initiated economic sabotage. We as Azimio vehemently oppose the Privatization of the Port of Mombasa.”
As a country, privatisation has seen some top government entities sink that were working in the 90’s and 2000s. Corporations like Kenya Airways, Uchumi Supermarkets, General Motors, Firestone and Mumias Sugar limited.
These are some of the entities that were doing so well under the government but went under after the privatisation. Questions remain to be what’s the endgame of this bill and what’s the actual target.
The Port of Mombasa has on recent years been the center of controversy with the local politicians in Mombasa fighting shadows accusing the government of planning to sell out the port.
See also: Privatisation Of State Corporations Don’t Need Parliamentary Approval