•President William Ruto last October assented into law the Privitisation Bill 2023 which allowed the sale of the state agencies with a combined worth of over Sh200 billion.
•The party in its petition questioned why the government was in a rush to sell the assets.
Image: The Star
The High Court will today hear a case where the opposition party ODM challenged the government's move to privatise 11 state corporations including the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
President William Ruto last October assented into law the Privatisation Bill 2023 which allowed the sale of the state agencies with a combined worth of more than Sh200 billion.
But opposition chief Raila Odinga's party the Orange Democratic Movement challenged the move saying that some public assets like the KICC, Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Literature Bureau, and Kenya Seed Company can only be privatised with the consent of the people at a referendum.
This is so because they form part of the sovereign wealth of Kenya with significant cultural and strategic importance to the public.
The party in its petition questioned why the government was in a rush to sell the assets.
It argued that the government has not demonstrated the urgency to justify the 'intended rush or any credible reasons that outweigh the constitutional questions they have raised in their case.
“At best, the only supposed justification for the intended sales are the reported conditionalities imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for the sale of state corporations to repay alleged foreign debt obligations,” ODM said.
Justice Chacha Mwita has since issued conservatory orders suspending the state plans after finding that the petition raises substantial constitutional and legal issues of public importance that require critical examination and consideration by the court.
The judge directed the ODM party to serve the petition upon the Speaker of National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula, Attorney-General Justin Muturi and Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung’u immediately with the court documents.
The impugned Act repealed the Privatisation Act, of 2005 and thereby introduced several provisions.
The net effect according to the papers is to grant the Executive arm of government sweeping powers to dispose of prized assets comprised of Kenya’s sovereign wealth.