65 State agency boards retired as government moves to bring in professionals
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Kenya among fastest deteriorating food insecurity hotspots as 4.1 million face hunger
Lucy Mumbi
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The new law introduces competitive recruitment and bars anyone involved in active politics during the last five years from serving on State agency boards.
The government has retired all board members in 65 State agencies as the Government-Owned Enterprises Act, 2025 comes into force.
The new law introduces competitive recruitment and bars anyone involved in active politics during the last five years from serving on State agency boards. The move marks the start of reforms aimed at reducing political influence in government-owned enterprises and improving corporate governance.
Speaking during a recent meeting, President William Ruto said the changes were necessary to ensure State corporations are managed by professionals selected through a competitive process. He noted that the reforms were informed by years of failed attempts to change the management of State institutions, which had been affected by mismanagement, misuse of public funds and political interference despite recommendations from previous reform efforts.
“We have been grappling for the last 15 years on making sure that those who serve in boards of government agencies are competitively recruited so that we minimise political influence,” Ruto said.
Section 10 of the GOE Act states that a government-owned enterprise shall be managed by a board of directors consisting of nine members who will serve for a period of three years, renewable once.
The new law replaces the previous practice where government agencies were viewed as appointment opportunities for political figures and instead requires board members to undergo a competitive recruitment process.
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The Act states that independent board directors shall be selected through a structured, transparent and competitive process overseen by an independent search and selection panel appointed by the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary.
The process is intended to introduce professionalism in the running of State agencies. To qualify for appointment, a person must not have been involved in active politics within the last five years.
The boards will consist of a chairperson who will be an independent director, six independent directors, one public officer from the National Treasury nominated by the Cabinet secretary and another public officer appointed in writing by the relevant Cabinet secretary for the ministry concerned.
Section 12 of the Act provides for the disqualification of individuals seeking appointment as board members.
“A person is not qualified to be appointed as an independent director of a GOE if that person has been affiliated with a political party in the immediately preceding five years,” reads section 12 (j) of the law.
The law defines being “affiliated with” as “having an official connection to, in the case of a political party, to a governing body of a political party or has identified with a political party for purposes of vying for a political office.”
The reforms are based on recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on Parastatal Reforms, a policy document unveiled on November 12, 2013.
The task force was jointly chaired by former Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohamed, who was then a senior advisor to President Uhuru Kenyatta, and Isaac Awuondo, who was then group managing director of Commercial Bank of Africa.
The Government Owned Enterprises Act applies to both existing and future government-owned enterprises established as public limited companies under the Companies Act.
It covers 65 existing companies and 18 statutory entities currently involved in commercial activities, including the Agricultural Finance Corporation, Kenya Airports Authority and the Postal Corporation of Kenya.
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