Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has said that a referendum should have been held for Kenyans to decide whether state assets should be sold to Private entities.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sifuna said leaders cannot take assets belonging to Kenyans, without the people having a say in it.
He added that on such a matter, even children should be allowed to vote.
He said the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Kenya Pipeline Company Limited among others listed for sale do not even belong to the current generation of adults.
"If ever there was a matter over which a referendum was mandatory then it's the sale of National Assets like KICC, KPC and the others. One generation of greedy leaders cannot just strip a Nation of its assets without reference to the people.
"On this one, even our children should vote because KICC is not even our property as the current generation of adults!" Sifuna said.
Other corporations to be sold are Kenya Literature Bureau, National Oil Corporation, Kenya Seed Company Limited, Mwea Rice Mills, Western Kenya Rice Mills Limited, Kenya Pipeline Company, New Kenya Cooperative Creameries, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited, Rivatex East Africa Limited and Numerical Machining Complex.
The government revealed that one of the reasons it was selling the Kenya Literature Bureau and KICC was because the two parastatals needed to be incorporated into limited companies.
On the other hand, National Oil Company is being privatised largely because of poor financial performance.
The government is also looking to dispense with the corporation because of negative working capital and low liquidity.
