- The government is moving to reform struggling State Owned Enterprises in line with agreements arrived at with multilateral lenders.
- The World Bank has said the mergers will be focused with those which are in agriculture, industry and finance.
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The National Treasury has invited views from the public on the Draft Government Owned Enterprises Bill 2024.
Members of the public have been asked to submit written comments or memoranda before close of business on June 14, 2024.
Further, members of the public have been invited to attend in-person public consultations on the Bill in Embu on June 11 at the Kenya School of Government, Eldoret at Sirikwa Hotel and Mombasa at the School of Government.
The National Treasury will collect views in Kisumu on June 13 at the Tom Mboya Labour College.
The exercise will be conducted in Nairobi at the Bomas of Kenya and Garissa at Government Guest House on June 14.
Members of the public are expected to give their opinions on policy priorities in the reform of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
The government is moving to reform struggling SOEs in line with agreements arrived at with multilateral lenders.
The reform of State Owned Enterprises has been a key part of the ongoing US$4.43 billion (Sh586 billion) programme between Kenya and the IMF.
The new policy reforms seek to accelerate privatisation processes of State Owned Enterprises and put in place more streamlined governance structures with clear roles and responsibilities among the entity stakeholders (boards, management, employees).
Other priorities are efficient utilisation of budgetary resources, better management of fiscal risks and enhanced accountability.
The government introduced the draft policy proposals as it seeks to merge struggling parastatals.
The World Bank said the mergers will be focused on most vulnerable SOEs and those with overlapping/duplicated mandates.
An Executive Order dated May 24, 2024, said some 25 SOEs would be wound up and their roles channeled back to parent ministries.
Prior to this, the government had in November 2023 released a list of 11 loss-making parastatals it said would be privitised
The are Kenya Literature Bureau, Kenyatta International Convention Centre, National Oil Corporation, Kenya Seed Company Ltd, Mwea Rice Mills, Western Kenya Rice Mills Ltd , Kenya Pipeline Co, New Kenya Cooperative Creameries, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd, Rivatex East Africa Ltd and Numerical Machining Complex.
The government is also developing a Management Information System for the National Treasury and Economic Planning to help strengthen its capacity to monitor and analyse SOEs.
The latest update on the restructuring of State Owned Enterprises was made public on April 30, 2024.
It said 25 SOEs were proposed for closure and transfered back to the parent ministry or relevant state corporations, 25 others earmarked for privitisation while 41 SOEs with overlapping/duplicated were proposed to be merged.
The government indicated that only 158 startegic state corporations would be retained.