mzeiya
Elder Lister
Some of the companies to be sold through the privatisation program include; Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), National Oil Corporation (NOC), Kenya Seed Company Limited, Mwea Rice Mills, and Western Kenya Rice Mills Limited.
Other companies that the government is looking to sell include; Kenya Pipeline Company, New Kenya Cooperative Creameries, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited, Rivatex East Africa Limited, and Numerical Machining Complex.
In a dispatch, the government revealed that one of the reasons it was selling the Kenya Literature Bureau and KICC was because the two parastatals needed to be incorporated into limited companies.
The government is also looking to dispense with the corporation because of negative working capital and low liquidity.
Kenya Seed Company chaired by former Kirinyaga Woman Representative Purity Ngirici was identified as a profitable and mature industry that was ready to be sold to the private sector.
Other companies that were identified as mature hence necessitating a sale included Mwea and Western Kenya rice mills and Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited.
In the divesting blueprint, the government further revealed it was looking to offload the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries because the company has huge potential, since it had already exhibited cyclical performance.
Apparel-making company Rivatex was earmarked for sale in a bid to attract private sector capital and expertise. The sale is also informed by the need to reduce the need for Government of Kenya (GOK) funding.
Additionally, Rivatex was identified as a loss-making company that relied on GOK for recurrent and development budget support.
The government announced that one of the reasons Kenya Pipeline was being sold was due to monopolistic characteristics evidenced by
lack of competition in the market.
President William Ruto's administration further stated that the ongoing legal cases affecting the company had also informed the decision to have it privatised.
