President William Ruto chaired his first cabinet meeting of 2025 at State Lodge Kakamega at the backdrop of his western Kenya tour.

The President noted that significant progress has been made in laying the foundation for the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)

The meeting held on Tuesday, January 21, marked the first for recently sworn in CSs Mutahi Kagwe, William Kabogo and Lee Kinyanjui.

The cabinet noted achievements in the recent future towards the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), citing increased contributions to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), advancements in universal health coverage, affordable housing initiatives, the establishment of special economic zones, and the development of County Aggregation and Industrial Parks.

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In line with the commitment to streamline government operations, reduce waste, and curb excesses, the Cabinet approved a series of recommendations aimed at reforming state corporations.

The national treasury, under CS John Mbadi, assessed 271 state corporations, excluding those earmarked for privatization.

The reforms include merging forty-two state corporations with overlapping or related mandates into twenty entities to improve operational efficiency and eliminate redundancy.

The state corporations proposed for mergers to form twenty are:

The cabinet additionally approved the dissolution of nine state corporations, with their functions set to be transferred to relevant ministries or other State entities.

Sixteen corporations with outdated functions that can be provided by the private sector will be also be divested or dissolved

Six state corporations will undergo restructuring to better align their mandates and enhance performance. Additionally, four public funds currently classified as state corporations will be declassified and returned to the relevant ministries with a strengthened governance framework.

All professional organisations currently categorized as state corporations will also be declassified and will no longer receive government budgetary allocations.

These reforms have been necessitated by increasing fiscal pressures arising from constrained government resources, the demand for high-quality public services, and the growing public debt burden.

According to reports, many state corporations have struggled to meet their contractual and statutory obligations, leading to an accumulation of pending bills amounting to KSh94.4 billion as of March 31, 2024.

Source: TUKO.co.ke