About 250 board members serving on 66 state corporations have retired following the rollout of Kenya’s Government-Owned Enterprises (GoE) Act, President William Ruto announced.
Speaking on Thursday, July 16, during the launch of consultations for the country’s inaugural State of Openness Report in Nairobi, Ruto said the changes clear the way for the competitive recruitment of professionals to lead key state corporations.
He added that the new law also prevents politicians from serving on parastatal boards until five years after they leave public office.
Ruto said the reforms have already set off a major shake-up, with boards of 66 commercial state corporations reconstituted to allow for the competitive appointment of professionals.
“Finally, last year, we managed to pass the law on government enterprises, and as a result, boards of commercial enterprises, 66 of them, have had to retire close to 250 board members so that we can competitively hire professionals,” Ruto said.
President Ruto praised Parliament for passing the Government-Owned Enterprises (GoE) legislation, saying the law has substantially reduced political interference in how state corporations operate.
He said, “The GoE Bill that I passed into law now says that if you have been in a political office, you cannot serve on parastatal boards for at least five years.”
Ruto added that the government has already started recruiting professionals to lead strategic institutions, including KenGen and the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), along with other state agencies, to strengthen governance and accountability.
He said, “But finally we are now recruiting professionals to run KenGen, KAA and many other agencies to introduce openness and bring more independent people to the management of government institutions.”
Ruto also pointed to recent changes under the Conflict of Interest law, which, he said, has introduced tougher scrutiny of transactions involving public officials and bolstered accountability.
He explained that the measure took time to pass because it required stricter transparency standards for people holding political power, but maintained that it represents an important step toward integrity in public offices.
While speaking to the delegates, Ruto also ordered government institutions that have not yet adopted the eCitizen single pay collection system to comply with it.
