A cabinet meeting was held today at Statehouse, chaired by his excellency President William Ruto has approved privatisation of 6 more state owned enterprises.
Among the establishments set for sale Include Development bank, Golf hotel limited, Sunset hotel limited, Mt. Elgon lodge limited, Kabarnet hotel limited and Kenya safari lodges hotel Limited that entails (Mombasa beach hotel, Ngulia Safari lodge & Voi safari lodge.
The cabinet stated that privatization of these enterprises will stimulate private sector investment and expand the country’s hospitality industry.
So far the total state owned entities that have been set for privatisation are 17. In 2023, president William Ruto had named 11 parastatals to be privatized and they include Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), Kenyatta Intentional Conventional Center (KICC), Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), Kenya seed Company Limited, New Kenya cooperative creameries, National Oil company of Kenya (NOCK), Numerical Machining complex, Kenya Vehicles Manufacturers Limited, Rivatex East Africa Limited, Mwea Rice Mills and Western Kenya Rice Mills.
The initial move of the privatisation of the 11 state owned enterprises was halted by the High Court after Raila Odinga through his Orange Democratic Party (ODM) filed a petition against the privatization of the establishment citing the entities are of strategic national interest and the government should seek consent to sell the enterprises from Kenyans through a referendum.
The High court judge presiding over the case justice Chacha Mwita acknowledged that the petition raised substantial constitutional and legal issues of public importance that require critical examination and consideration by the court.
The judge issued a conservatory order suspending the implementation of section 2(1) of the Privatisation Act 2023.
However, Ruto defended the privatization of Kenyatta Intentional Conventional Center (KICC) saying that selling it will maximize profits from the building and unlock its potential.
According to president Ruto, Kenyatta Intentional Conventional Center (KICC) is valued at 30 billion but its being mismanaged as the government collected only 30 million from the entity in 2022. He added that privatization of KICC will generate 300 billion yearly adding value to the government.
Initially Ruto had mentioned that the government will privatize 35 state companies trapped in governments bureaucracy.