Privatization Act

An Act of Parliament to provide for the privatization of public assets and operations, including state corporations, by requiring the formulation and implementation of a privatization programme by a Privatization Commission to be established by this Act and for related purposes

ENACTED by the Parliament of Kenya as follows:
Part art I – Preliminary

1. This Act may be cited as the Privatization Act, 2005 and shall come into operation on 1st January 2008.
2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires–
3. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires–

The Commission shall–

• “Commission” means the Privatization Commission established under section 3;
• “Executive Director” means the Executive Director of the Commission appointed under section 10;
• “Minister” means the minister responsible for finance;
• “privatization” means a transaction or transactions that result in a transfer, other than to a public entity, of any of the following–
• assets of a public entity including the shares in a state corporation;
• operational control of assets of a public entity;
• operations previously performed by a public entity;
• “privatization programme” means the programme provided for under section 17;
• “privatization proposal” means a proposal provided for under section 23;
• Short title and commencement.
• “public entity” includes a government department, a state corporation or a local authority;
• “shares” means the shares in the share capital of’ a state corporation and includes share options;
• “state corporation” means a state corporation as defined in the State Corporations Act;
• “Tribunal” means the Privatization Appeals Tribunal established under section 44 of this Act.

For greater certainty, the assets of a fund established by law and held by or vested in a public entity are assets of the public entity for the purposes of this Act.

Part art II – The Privatizatio Commission

The Privatization Commission is hereby established as a body corporate.
The Commission shall–

• formulate, manage and implement the privatization programme;
• make and implement specific proposals for privatization in accordance with the privatization programme;
• carry out such other functions as are provided for under this Act; and
• carry out such other functions as the Commission considers advisable to advance the privatization programme.

5. (1) The Commission shall comprise the following members–

• a chairman appointed by the President;
• the Attorney General;
• the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury;
• seven members, not being public officers, appointed by the Minister and approved by the relevant committee of Parliament, by virtue of their expertise in such matters as will ensure that the Commission achieves its tives; and
• the Executive Director.

 No person shall be appointed as chairman unless he is a person of high integrity and has a university degree and at least ten years of high level experience in either the public or private sector.

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