Court Blocks Ruto’s Bid to Privatise KICC, 10 Other Parastatals
The Ministry of Treasury’s attempt to privatize the Kenya International Conference Center and 10 other state-owned enterprises has suffered a setback.
The directives from Justice Chacha Mwita regarding the conservatory orders were handed down on Monday following a lawsuit filed by Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
ODM previously expressed worries about President William Ruto’s intention to privatize the parastatal, contending that these entities were public assets funded by the state.
In his judgment, Mwita highlighted that the opposition brought up significant constitutional and legal matters of great public importance that demand thorough scrutiny and deliberation by the court.
Therefore, the court instructed the respondents, including the State, to submit their replies to the petition within 5 days.
“A conservatory order is hereby issued suspending implementation of section 21(1) of the Privatisation Act 2023 and or any decisions made under that section, until February 6, 2024, given under my hand and seal of the Honourable court this 4th Day of December 2023,” Mwita directed.
He additionally instructed that following the service, the petitioner will be given a period of 5 days to submit and serve an additional affidavit. Subsequently, the respondent will have 5 days to file and serve written arguments in response to the petition.
Both parties are expected to make filings not longer than 10 pages.
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In late November, the government aimed to privatize various state-owned entities such as the Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), National Oil Corporation (NOC), and KICC, among other organizations.
A Treasury announcement at that moment suggested that certain state-owned enterprises reliant on government funding required alternative revenue streams, whereas the profitable entities should be transformed into limited companies.
Several days later, Simon Chelugui, the Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives, withdrew a previous order to privatize the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC).
“I want to state as follows. On March 22, 2019, the Cabinet resolved to remove KCC from privatization. That position stands and can only be reversed by a similar Cabinet resolution,” Chelugui assured at the time.
The most recent judgment arrived just one week after Justice Mwita halted the government’s intention to rent out multiple docks at Mombasa and Lamu Ports.
Aggrieved entities had filed a suit protesting the move arguing that the state had no power to hand the berths to private entities.
The case is set for mention on Wednesday, December 6.
Court Blocks Ruto’s Bid to Privatise KICC, 10 Other Parastatals