TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto has over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting and offers profound insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.

Deputy President (DP) Kithure Kindiki has backed the Cabinet's plan to dissolve, sell, and merge outdated state corporations.

In a statement on his Facebook page on Wednesday, January 22, the DP argued some agencies gobble public funds without offering commensurate value.

Kindiki noted others have overlapping roles with the national and devolved units, leading to a waste of money.

"Of Kenya’s 291 parastatals, some duplicate the work of ministries of the national government and others enchroach on functions devolved to counties. Some just pay salaries and maintain expensive boards of directors, adding minimum or no value to Kenya’s development," he stated.

The DP insisted the government had no option but to propose the dissolution and sale of loss-making state corporations to cut public expenditure.

"The Kenya Kwanza Administration has decided to bite the bullet and implement parastatal reforms that have been in discussion for over 20 years now. This is one of the ways of minimising the size of government and confronting wastage of public resources &corruption," he added.

On Tuesday, January 21, President William Ruto's Cabinet approved the dissolution of nine state corporations.

The Cabinet noted that parent ministries would take over the functions of the abolished public organisations.

It stated that increased budgetary challenges attributed to limited government resources, the need for high-quality public services, and the mounting public debt load necessitated the reforms.

According to the government's top decision-making entity, numerous state corporations have failed to fulfil their legal and contractual commitments.

The Kenya Tsetse Fly and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Council, the Kenya Fish Marketing Authority, and the Centre for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education in Africa are among those facing dissolution.

The Cabinet also approved the sale of 16 state corporations, citing outdated mandates.

It noted the affected parastatals would either be sold to private investors or scrapped altogether.

They include the Numerical Machining Complex, Scrap Metal Council, Kenya Fishing Industries Corporation, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, and Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya Ltd.

Source: TUKO.co.ke