President William Ruto has ordered 42 state corporations to be merged into 20 entities.
Ruto while chairing the first Cabinet meeting of 2025 at State Lodge, Kakamega said this is in line with the commitment to streamline government operations, reduce waste, and curb excesses, the Cabinet approved a series of recommendations aimed at reforming State Corporations.
The reforms include merging 42 State Corporations with overlapping or related mandates into 20 entities to improve operational efficiency and eliminate redundancy.
“Forty-two (42) State Corporations with duplicating, overlapping or related mandates are proposed for mergers to form twenty (20) entities,” read the dispatch in part.
Additionally, four public funds currently classified as State Corporations will be declassified and returned to the relevant ministries with a strengthened governance framework.
Ruto Merges 42 State Corporations into 20 Entities
The cabinet resolved that all professional organisations currently categorized as State Corporations will also be declassified and will no longer receive government budgetary allocations.
“These reforms have been necessitated by increasing fiscal pressures arising from constrained government resources, the demand for high quality public services, and the growing public debt burden,” the dispatch further read.
“Many State Corporations have struggled to meet their contractual and statutory obligations, leading to an accumulation of pending bills amounting to Ksh94.4 billion as of March 31, 2024.”
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The list of proposed mergers includes:
- University Fund and Higher Education Loans Board
- Kenya Tourism Board and Tourism Research Institute
- Export Processing Zones Authority and Special Economic Zones Authority
- Anti-Counterfeit Authority, Kenya Industrial Property Institute, and Kenya Copyright Board
- Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute and Kenya Industrial Estates
- Agricultural Finance Corporation and Commodities Fund
- Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Water Towers Agency
- Agricultural Development Corporation
- Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre, National Irrigation Authority, and National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority
- Kenya Law Reform Commission and National Council for Law Reporting
- Tourism Promotion Fund and Tourism Fund
- Commission for University Education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority, and Kenya National Qualifications Authority
- Kenya Rural Roads Authority and Kenya Urban Roads Authority
- Kenya Investment Authority and Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency
- Water Services Regulatory Board, Water Regulatory Authority, and Regional Center on Ground Water Resources, Education, Training, and Research
- Kenya National Trading Corporation and National Cereals & Produce Board
- Uwezo Fund, Women Enterprise Fund, and Youth Enterprise Development Fund
- Kenya Medical Research Institute and Kenya Institute of Primate Research
- Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service and National Bio-Safety Authority
- Agriculture and Food Authority
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At the same time, nine State Corporations will be dissolved, with their functions transferred to relevant ministries or other State entities, while 16 corporations with outdated functions that can be provided by the private sector will be divested or dissolved.
Among the state corporations included in the dissolution are:
- Kenya Tsetse Fly and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Council
- Kenya Fish Marketing Authority
- Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa
- President’s Award – Kenya
- Nuclear Power and Energy Agency
- Kenya National Commission for UNESCO
- Kenya Film Classification Board
- National Council for Nomadic Education
- LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority
Six State Corporations will undergo restructuring to better align their mandates and enhance performance. These include
1 Kenya Utalii College
2 Postal Corporation of Kenya
3 Bomas of Kenya
4 National Syndemic Diseases Control Council
5 Kenya Roads Board
6 National Housing Corporation
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