President William Ruto's Cabinet has agreed to review the effectiveness of six development authorities currently in operation.
The Head of State, through dispatch sent to Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday evening, questioned their continued operations more than 10 years after devolution took effect.
The authorities being targeted in the review are the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA), the Kerio Valley Development Authority, and the Lake Basin Development Authority.
Others include the Ewaso Nyiro North Development Authority, the Ewaso Nyiro South Development Authority, and the Coast Development Authority.
In his personal capacity, the Head of State remarked that the review will gauge the impact and effectiveness of the authorities.
"The roles of Regional Development Authorities will be reviewed to gauge their impact and effectiveness in light of devolution in the country," he stated.
Timeliness for the review and action likely to be taken was not made public. However notable actions that could happen after the review include mergers or complete dissolution.
The six authorities are currently tasked with integrated planning and coordination of all development projects within their jurisdictions.
In the case of TARDA, it specifically implements any projects for the purpose of utilisation and protection of water and soils of the area.
Notably, the planned review comes months after the same Cabinet authorised the privatisation of 11 state corporations including Kenyatta International Conference Center and Kenya Pipeline Authority.
Ruto, at the time, argued that the government was spending billions of shillings sustaining their operations yet the companies stood a profitability chance under private management.
"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.
"I am just giving you an example of why we must save Kenya, and I promise you we are going to move this country in the right direction, we are going to make the difficult, smart decision."
Others earmarked for privatisation were Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), National Oil Corporation (NOC), Kenya Seed Company Limited, Mwea Rice Mills, and Western Kenya Rice Mills Limited.
