Stakeholders drawn from Machakos County have called for the prosecution of heads of non-profit making parastatals that are set to be privatized if the Privatization Bill, 2025 is passed.
According to them, all the struggling parastatals must have been mismanaged and therefore, the heads should be investigated and if found guilty made to return all the resources and finances they misused.
They were speaking during the third day of Public Participation on Privatization Bill, 2025 in Machakos County where the Lower Easter delegation led by MP David Mwalika (Kitui Rural) were told that privatizing struggling entities without holding those responsible for misuse of resources is not sufficient.
“We cannot move forward to privatize non-profit making entities without holding the managers who took them to their knees accountable. We want all those who embezzled the funds meant for these parastatals arrested and prosecuted,” Jonathan Ndambuki said.
At the same time the Members drawn from Finance and National Planning and Public Debt and Privatization Committees were asked to disclose the number of parastatals that are set to be privatized if the Bill is signed into law.
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In his response, Mwalika informed the residents that 80 per cent of the over 200 parastatals in the country depend on the exchequer for its operation. However, he stated that the role of identifying and listing those to be privatized remains with the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury, John Mbadi.
Mwalika further disclosed that after Cabinet approval, the list will be brought to Parliament for Members approvals before implementation.
“The list will be brought to Parliament which has the power to either add more Parastatals or remove some from the list before it is approved or rejected,” Mwalika told the residents.
Among other issues raised by the locals was the need for a thorough civic education on Bills before they are engaged to give their views. They decried being rushed through the Public Participation process without being given enough time to read and understand what the Bill entails.
By Juma Ndigo
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