President William Ruto on Monday assented to the Privatisation Bill at the Kisumu State Lodge.
According to a dispatch from State House, the President, who is on a tour of Kisumu and Siaya counties of Nyanza region, will also hold a Cabinet meeting at Kisumu State Lodge.
At around 11 am, the President will commission the MV UHURU II at the Kisumu Shipyard, Kisumu Central Constituency.
He will later in the afternoon launch construction of the Bondo-Liunda Road, Bondo Constituency.
Privatisation Act seeks to allow the Treasury to exclude Parliament from approving the sale of State-owned firms in changes aimed at shortening the approval process for the sale of government assets.
The State-backed Act comes at a time when the government has announced plans to sell a number of State-owned firms through the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) this year.
Ruto said his government would bring to the bourse through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) between six and 10 companies, urging the private sector also to list at least five companies to boost the Nairobi bourse.
With the approval of the Cabinet Secretary for Treasury Njuguna Ndung'u, the Privatisation Authority will consider privatisation through IPOs.
This approach aims to enhance transparency and openness in the disposals, as well as through sales resulting from the exercise of pre-emptive rights.
In such cases, company shareholders are granted the right to have the first option to buy shares when there is an issuance, with the procedure guided by the entity’s charter documents.
The new Act has removed methods like liquidation and leasing that had been suggested in the 2005 law.
Under the proposed changes, treasury CS will appoint members of the Privatisation Authority without oversight from Parliament, handing the exchequer a greater role in the entity's running.
The Privatisation Act of 2005 requires the Treasury Cabinet Secretary to appoint members to the Privatisation Commission through a competitive process and approval by the National Assembly.
The Privatisation Commission has lined up 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.
The list also has ailing state millers including Chemilil Sugar, South Nyanza, Nzoia, Miwani and Muhoroni.
