President Kenyatta Signs Five Parliamentary Bills Into Law

NAIROBI,Kenya, Dec, 7 – President Uhuru Kenyatta today at State House, Nairobi signed five parliamentary bills into law.

The Head of State assented to the Public Private Partnership Bill, Central Bank of Kenya (Amendment) Bill and Tax Appeals Tribunal (Amendment) Bill.

Also signed into law are the Trustees (Amendment) Bill and Kenya Deposit Insurance (Amendment) Bill.

The Public Private Partnership Bill which has 87 clauses seeks to provide for the participation of the private sector in the financing, construction, development, operation or maintenance of infrastructure development projects through public-private partnerships and also streamline the regulatory framework for public private partnerships.

It further proposed to enhance efficiency in the regulatory process of engagement of private parties and the manner in which public private partnerships are conducted so as to ensure the provision of high quality facilities and services.

It also sets timeliness on key projects processes and stages for more efficient and predictable project development environment while expanding the scope of available procurement methods for public private partnerships by introducing direct procurement as one of the approved methods.

The Tax Appeals Tribunal (Amendment) Bill, seeks to shift the Tax Appeals Tribunal from the Executive to the Judicial Service Commission to enhance its independence in the administration of justice and clear a backlog of 500 tax appeals.

The bill also recommended that the appointment and removal of staff of the tribunal, including its funding be done by the JSC.

The Bill which has 18 clauses seeks to amend the Tax Appeals Tribunal Act (2013) to address challenges affecting the performance of the Tax Appeals Tribunal to facilitate the expedition of tax disputes in Kenya.

The Central Bank of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, No. 10 of 2021 seeks to amend the CBK Act to provide for licensing of digital credit service providers whoa re not regulated under any other law.

CBK will be obligated to ensure that there is a fair and non-discriminatory market place for access to credit.

The regulatory authority will now supervise the licensing of digital borrowing platforms.

The proposed legislation empowers the CBK to make additional regulations to give effect to the provisions in the Bill, including registration requirements, capital adequacy requirements, licence fees, permissible and prohibited activities and reporting requirements.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, his Senate counterpart Ken Lusaka, Treasury CS Ukur Yatani and Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua attended the brief signing ceremony.

Others were Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Amos Kimunya, Solicitor General Ken Ogeto and State House Deputy Chief of Staff Njee Muturi.

Additional Reporting By PSCU.