The National Assembly has officially begun the process of reviewing a proposal to privatize the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), following the tabling of a Sessional Paper from the National Treasury and Economic Planning.
Speaker Moses Wetang’ula informed MPs on Tuesday that the proposal seeks to offload KPC shares to the public through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The move is part of the government’s wider economic reform strategy aimed at enhancing efficiency, competitiveness, and financial sustainability in key state-owned enterprises.
The privatization plan was formulated under the Privatization Act, 2005, and has already received Cabinet approval. It now requires parliamentary endorsement.
The Sessional Paper was scheduled to be laid on the Table of the House by the Leader of the Majority Party during Tuesday’s sitting. The Speaker directed that it be jointly scrutinized by the Departmental Committee on Energy and the Select Committee on Public Debt and Privatization.
“The objective is to unlock value and improve service delivery at Kenya Pipeline Company. I urge the two committees to expedite their joint review and table a report to enable further debate,” Wetang’ula told the House.KPC, a strategic state corporation in the petroleum supply chain, has long been earmarked for reform, with previous administrations citing its potential for private sector-led efficiency gains.
If approved by Parliament, this will be one of the first major privatizations under the Ruto administration’s revived privatization agenda.
