KICC & 10 Other Parastatals Govt Has Put Up For Sale
Others include Mwea Rice Mills and Western Kenya Rice Mills Ltd. The list also includes notable firms such as the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).
Marvin Chege 
The national government has announced that 11 parastatals have been put up for sale, including the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The country's National Treasury unveiled its new privatisation programme that will see the likes of Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Kenya Seed Company Ltd be put up for sale.
Others include Mwea Rice Mills and Western Kenya Rice Mills Ltd. The list also includes notable firms such as the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).
Oil tanks at Kenya Pipeline Company headquarters. /THE STAR
Here is the full list of companies put up for sale on Monday, November 27:
- Kenya Literature Bureau
- Kenyatta International Convention Centre
- National Oil Corporation
- Kenya Seed Company Ltd
- Mwea Rice Mills
- Western Kenya Rice Mills Ltd
- Kenya Pipeline Company
- New Kenya Cooperative Creameries
- Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd
- Rivatex East Africa Ltd
- Numerical Machining Complex
The Treasury explained that both KICC and KLB will be incorporated into a limited company. However, NOC was being put up for sale due to poor financial performance with huge losses, negative working capital and low liquidity.
On the other hand, Kenya Seed Company Limited which is chaired by former Kirinyaga Woman Representative Purity Ngirici was revealed to be a profitable entity linked to the government and an industry mature enough to be put up for sale.
Mwea and Western Kenya rice mills, and Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited were also identified as mature companies ready to be sold to the private sector, though the latter has been making losses over the years.
The government explained that it was willing to let go of KPC due to non-reliance on the exchequer for recurrent or capital grants as well as monopolistic characteristics evidenced by a lack of competitors in the market.
However, KPC has been revealed to be profitable and remitting yearly dividends to the exchequer, despite facing several ongoing legal cases.
New Kenya Cooperative Creameries was revealed to be profitable, but despite its high potential and a maturing dairy industry, it recorded cyclical performance, thus prompting its sale.
The Treasury also singled out Rivatex, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited, and Numerical Machining Complex as loss-making companies.
The sale comes after President William Ruto signed the Privatisation Bill, 2023 into law, repealing the Privatisation Act, 2005 which was enacted before the current Constitution.
The Bill removes the bureaucracy in the privatisation of non-strategic or loss-making Government entities and encourages more participation of the private sector in the economy by shifting the production and delivery of products and services from the public sector.
It improves the infrastructure and delivery of public services through the involvement of private capital and expertise.
