KENYAN MPS ON A COLLISION COURSE IN PLAN TO SELL STATE
NAIROBI - A showdown is looming in parliament over the Privatisation Bill, 2023, which seeks to strip MPs of their oversight role in the sale of stateowned corporations.
Opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party, which is led by Raila Odinga, has vowed to resist the Bill, setting the stage for bitter a clash with allies of President William Ruto in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
The Bill, which will repeal the Privatisation Act, 2005, gives power to the National Treasury to privatise public entities without the approval of parliament.
It also seeks to establish the Privatisation Authority, which, among other things, will advise the government on all aspects of the privatisation of government firms.
Azimio MPs led by National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi and his Senate counterpart Stewart Madzayo claimed some leaders in the government and cartels at Treasury are planning to buy State-owned corporations through their offshore companies.
“The proposed sale of parastatals is not meant to revive the institutions. It is meant to help people in the Kenya Kwanza government who have formed companies in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe,” Wandayi said.
“The discussions have been held in many discreet locations and it is just a matter of time before these institutions go,” he added. The MPs said public universities like Egerton, Moi, Maasai Maara and some colleges of the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University are being marketed abroad for sale.
In addition, the MPs said they are aware of plans by the government to also sell the ports of Mombasa and Lamu as well as affiliate Kenya Ports Authority installations in Kisumu, Busia, Siaya, Homa Bay and Migori.
The MPs accused President Ruto of usurping the oversight role of parliament in approving the Bill, a move they said undermines constitutional provisions on the role of parliament and public participation.