The Court of Appeal (COA) dealt a blow to President William Ruto's objectives to sell some public parastatals to private investors after it dismissed an application to suspend a High Court's decision declaring the Privatisation Act 2023 unconstitutional.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetangula, filed an appeal at the Appellate Court following a High Court's decision declaring the Privatisation Act 2023 unconstitutional in September 2024.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal upheld the earlier High Court orders, including the suspension of the planned sale of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The latest ruling means that the earlier decision declaring KICC a national monument and a symbol of national heritage—whose proposed sale would violate constitutional and cultural rights—will stand.
Katiba Institute, a human rights lobby, was one of the respondents in the case, including the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, which moved to court to challenge the government's decision to privatise six out of eleven parastatals, including KICC, Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and New Kenya Cooperative Creameries Limited (New KCC).
In their suit, the petitioners also challenged the sale of Kenya Seed Company Limited, the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), and the National Oil Corporation of Kenya.
The respondents had earlier argued that Ruto's plan to privatise the above parastatals contravened the Constitution and that the said organisations were the state's assets financed by the public.
The latest ruling means that the government will go back to the drawing board to review the Privatization Act 2023, which was declared unconstitutional by the court.
The Act provided for the establishment of the Privatization Authority and removed the requirement for parliamentary approval of its members.
The High Court, in its earlier ruling, maintained that the establishment of the Act was not subjected to public participation.
"The Constitution is the supreme law, and the public must be involved in public participation. The National Assembly does not do the public a favour by inviting them to participate," the court stated.
In November 2023, the National Treasury announced plans to privatize 11 state-owned entities, citing persistent losses despite significant government funding.
