NAIROBI, September 24, 2024– The government’s move to privatize 11 parastatals under the Privatization Act, 2023, is null and void according to the High Court.
Justice Chacha Mwita announced that the Act was unconstitutional for lack of sufficient public participation.
“The National Assembly failed to discharge its obligations to conduct public participation that met both quantitative and qualitative thresholds,” said Mwita.
“The six memoranda received coupled with a few stakeholders could not effectively represent views of the people as required by Articles 10 and 18 of the Constitution.”.
Included among the parastatals to be privatized was the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
Justice Mwita said in declaring, “A declaration is hereby issued that the decision to privatize KICC, a National Monument, contravenes provisions of the Monument and Heritage Act and is therefore unconstitutional, unlawful, and void.”
The Privatization Act, meant to give the Executive powers to sell off public assets signed into law by President William Ruto almost a year ago, had however faced opposition and headed to court.
The Act had given a Cabinet Secretary much latitude to identify and commence the sale of public assets and probably sidestep parliamentary oversight.
The Act also introduced a provision stating that such a decision to ratify the sale of a parastatal was considered approved in case the National Assembly did nothing within 90 days from the date of such receipt; this provision too Justice Mwita declared unconstitutional.
ODM opposed the Act, citing that some of the parastatals, such as Kenya Pipeline Limited, Kenya Seed Company, and Kenya Literature Bureau, were of national security interest and should not, therefore, be privatised.
The ruling, besides saving KICC, also saved other key public entities from privatization that included the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited, Mwea and Western Kenya Rice Mills, Rivatex East Africa, and the Numerical Machining Complex.
