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{
    "id": 1283548,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1283548/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 263,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Deputy Speaker, this Bill is formulated as the next-generation legal framework which, amongst other things, seeks to overcome the shortcomings and challenges that are associated with the current law, the Privatisation Act that was enacted in 2005. Hon. Temporary Speaker, prior to the coming into effect of the Privatisation Act of 2005, government privatisation transactions were guided by the Policy Paper on Public Enterprises Reforms and Privatisation of 1998, together with the then Corporation Act, which empowered the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury to undertake such transactions. In an effort to enhance transparency in privatisation transactions, Parliament enacted the Privatisation Act of 2005. However, it was not until 2008 that this law came into effect. The Act established the Privatisation Commission, whose mandate is to implement privatisation. The objectives of privatisation of public enterprises, as envisaged in this Act, are to improve infrastructure and delivery of public services by the involvement of private capital and expertise, reduce the demand for government resources, and generate additional government revenues by receiving compensation for privatisation, amongst other objectives. When the Privatisation Act 2005 came into effect in 2008, the Government engaged in privatisation endeavours and managed to divest from commercial enterprises with the objective of raising resources. Privatisation of state-owned enterprises aims to enhance efficiency in the operations of such institutions or organisations through the injection of private capital where the Government is limited in terms of the amount of capital it can inject into such state corporations. Other than capital, there is the injection of private sector expertise into the running of state-owned enterprises and, therefore, enhancement of efficiency and delivery of services to the public. The biggest impact of the current policy was felt during the privatisation of the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC). If I am not wrong, at one time, one of the offshoots of KPTC – the Communications Authority of Kenya – was headed by Hon. Chepkong’a. The big investments witnessed in the telecommunication sector after the privatisation of the KPTC led to what is now Safaricom Limited and Telkom (Kenya) Limited as we know them today. As I mentioned, there was an injection of private capital, leading to the birth of Safaricom Limited. Kenya’s telecommunication sector has since grown in leaps and bounds. Had we not privatised the KPTC as it was then, as a country, we would not have benefited from the private sector capital that came through Vodafone and other investors, including members of the public who have invested in Safaricom and other state-owned corporations. I was using Safaricom Limited as an example, it being one of the success stories of our privatisation efforts over the years. However, the Privatisation Act of 2005 has not been as effective as was contemplated by the makers of this policy. Lengthy privatisation processes have required a large layer of The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}