Privatisation law sparks fears over sale of public assets, grabbing of land

Kenya Pipeline Company storage facilities in Nairobi. The Government plans to sale KPC through an Initial Public Offer. [File, Standard]

Kenyans could, in the coming years, lose huge tracts of publicly owned land as well as strategic installations as the government starts to roll out the new privatisation law. 

The Privatisation Act 2025, which is one of several new laws that have stirred public outrage over the past week after receiving presidential assent on the same day the country learnt of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s death, has been criticised for paving the way for the ceding of public land to private investors, a move some have described as unconstitutional.