The High Court’s orders to halt the plans to privatize the Kenya International Conference Center (KICC) and ten other parastatals have dealt a serious blow to President William Ruto’s administration.

In order to prevent the government from privatizing the 11 institutions while Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party files a petition, Judge Chacha Mwita granted conservatory orders.

“A conservatory order is hereby issued suspending implementation of section 21(1) of the Privatization Act 2023 and or any decisions made under that section, until February 6, 2024,” Justice Mwita ordered.

The judge stated in his judgment that he was convinced that ODM’s petition presents significant constitutional and legal issues of public concern that call for the court’s careful review and consideration.

He gave the ODM party the order to serve the pleadings on the respondents, who included the Speaker of the National Assembly, Attorney General Justin Muturi, and Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u, right away.

Prior to the case’s hearing on February 6, 2024, the court also instructed the respondents to submit answers to the petition no later than five days following serve.

ODM contended in court documents that the privatization of some public assets, such as the Kenya Literature Bureau, Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Seed Company, and KICC, may only occur with the approval of the people through a referendum.

This is true since they are an important cultural and geopolitical component of Kenya’s sovereign riches.

Jackson Awele, an advocate for ODM, called for the court to grant conservatory orders, arguing that the public was not permitted to voice opinions about the Privatization Act, which made it simpler to transfer state-owned businesses to private sector firms.

Why the government was eager to sell the assets was an issue raised by the party requesting the directives.

Furthermore, according to ODM, the government has not shown that it is urgent to defend the “intended rush” or that it has any solid arguments that overcome the constitutional issues they have brought up in their case.

“At best, the only supposed justification for the intended sales are the reported conditionalities imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for the sale of state corporations to repay alleged foreign debt obligations,” lawyer Awele says.

According to ODM, vital facilities essential to Kenya’s national security include the Kenya Literature Bureau, Kenya Seed Company, and Kenya Pipeline Company.

“Their sale accordingly elicits national security concerns that directly threaten the sovereignty of the people and the Republic of Kenya.”

Awele stated that once the case is heard, they would show the court how the Act is not in the public interest since it is purposefully made to allow for hasty, absolute, and illogical decision-making when selling public assets.

They will also bring up the issue of public participation, which they claim was not followed, and they will go on to argue that the challenged provisions do not, in accordance with the 2010 Kenyan Constitution, offer sufficient security guarantees or a system of checks and balances to ensure the integrity of the alleged privatization programs.

“Neither the public nor the petitioner was given a reasonable and/or meaningful opportunity to comment on or contribute to the substantive provisions of the impugned amendments at any stage before their passage by the National Assembly,” the lawyer stated.

The case was filed in response to ODM’s prior objections to President Ruto’s proposal to privatize the parastatal, claiming that they were publically funded state assets.

President Ruto signed the Privatization Bill, 2023 (the contested Act) into law on October 9 2023, stating that it would go into effect on October 27, 2023.

According to the party, the contested Act included certain elements by nullifying the Privatization Act of 2005.

The documents state that the overall result is to provide the Executive branch of government broad authority to dispose of valuable assets that make up Kenya’s national wealth.

“In passing the impugned Act, the National Assembly and the President failed in there to protect and uphold the sovereignty of the People of Kenya,” ODM said.

Towards the end of the previous month, the Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), National Oil Corporation (NOC), and KICC were among the parastatals that the government, acting via the Ministry of Treasury, attempted to privatize.

According to a statement made at the time by the Treasury, the lucrative parastatals should have been transformed into limited corporations, while some that relied on the exchequer for funding needed to find alternative sources of income.