Kenya: High Court Rules Privatization Act, 2025, Constitutional

The Milimani High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Privatization Act, 2025, paving the way for implementation of the new law aimed at restructuring State-Owned Enterprises.

The Act, signed into law by William Ruto in October 2025, seeks to overhaul the previous privatization framework to speed up the sale or restructuring of State-Owned Enterprises, improve efficiency, ease fiscal pressure on the government, and raise revenue to plug budget deficits.

In its ruling, the court held that the law primarily concerns national government assets and does not affect county governments, terming it a Money Bill that does not require approval by the Senate.

The petitioners had argued that the Act was unconstitutional because it was enacted without Senate involvement despite allegedly affecting counties.

"The Act regulates privatization of national government-linked entities. Section 4(f) expressly excludes sale or transfer of shares by county governments. The statute does not alter or affect the functions and powers of county governments under the Fourth Schedule," the court stated, adding that enactment by the National Assembly alone was constitutionally sound.

This article originally appeared on Capital FM.