Legislators now want the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation and Kenya Literature Bureau to be merged, citing concurrent mandate.
JKF is a book publishing firm and also offers scholarships to secondary school students.
The Kenya Literature Bureau also has its main mandate in publishing, printing and distributing books.
The Public Investments Committee on Education and Governance questioned the similar mandates being run by the two state agencies.
Kiminini MP Kakai Bisau said both institutions run the same activities in terms of book publishing and supply.
“Why are we duplicating? Do we merge and do away with one? So that we do away with one entity and leave it for the open market,” Bisau said.
The JKF team led by MD David Mwaniki appeared before the committee to respond to audit queries on Wednesday.
The questions on merging came up when the team was informed that JKF does not receive any government funding.
The committee chair Wanami Wamboka questioned why the organization exists, instead of allowing public companies to take charge.
"You don't receive any money from the state. What is the government interest if you’re a normal entity for profit," Wanami paused.
But the main concern raised by MPs was why JKF receives few government orders, despite having government officials sitting on the board.
The legislators questioned what the JKF team did to ensure proper marketing of their products.
"We do a lot of lobbying and aggression in terms of marketing in the private market. We also work with ministry that’s why we get many orders," Mwaniki said.
Mwaniki explained why the institution does not get any funding and its core mandate.
"We utilize profits made to give scholarships. We are operating in an open market competing with private organizations," he said.
