The National Treasury resolved to wind up 25 companies following recommendations made by a committee asserting that this would be the best course of action.
In the budget estimates for the Financial Year 2024/25 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the State proposed the winding down after concluding that some of the state corporations were operating in the industry well covered by the private sector.
Without revealing the specific companies, the Ministry proposed that the duties carried out by the companies be returned to respective ministries.
The decision was born out of the Ministry of Treasury's decision to expedite its review of all Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) through its newly established high-level risk committee.
A preliminary assessment whose findings are expected to be tabled in Parliament targeted 288 state corporations to determine their viability and/or recommend necessary action.
In the proposed findings, 158 state corporations are to be retained while 41 will be merged for carrying out duplicate roles.
Other proposed changes include 40 state corporations set to be restructured, 7 whose functions require policy guidance and 25 earmarked for privatisation.
"25 entities are earmarked for privatisation and is being implemented in accordance with the Privatisation Act, 2023," the estimates read in part.
"They are in various stages of implementation. The proposed 2023 privatisation programmes were suspended by the courts."
Implementation of privatisation not affected by Court suspension is ongoing. The National Treasury is monitoring the court cases on privatisation and will submit a detailed status report on privatisation to the National Assembly by June 30, 2024," added the report.
Towards the end of 2023, President William Ruto's Cabinet approved the privatisation of 11 parastatals including the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and Kenya Pipeline.
In a subsequent speech, the Head of State clarified that the decision was arrived at based on a 10-year-old government report which recommended the disposal of the government assets.
"We are spending billions of shillings sustaining companies, we have 350 public entities that just take from the budget but some you ask, what is this one doing, so we are going to make a decision," Ruto stated.
In December 2023, however, Justice Chacha Mwita issued conservatory orders barring the privatisation in a case filed by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) headed by Raila Odinga.
