A sacked employee receives his termination letter. Job losses loom as as Treasury to dissolve six regional authorities.
The National Treasury is set to dissolve six Regional Development Authorities and facilitate the eventual transfer of assets, liabilities and personnel to the two levels of government by the end of June, 2025.
The Treasury budget documents for the financial year 2025/26 show that the six authorities are to be disbanded in light of devolution and their impact on local governance.
The six regional development authorities are Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority, Kerio Valley Development Authority, Lake Basin Development Authority, Ewaso Ng'iro North Development Authority, and Coast Development Authority.
The dissolution of the authorities follows a review of their mandate in line with the constitutional requirement that recognised the existence of the national and county levels of government with the implementation of devolution.
Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) building in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County.
The Cabinet chaired by President William Ruto on March 7, 2024, directed the Ministry of East African Community and Regional Development to review the relevance of the six authorities that were established under various Acts of Parliament that have since been overridden by the Constitution that was promulgated in 2010.
The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution empowers the 47 county governments to recognise the right of communities to manage their own affairs and to further their development, and requires devolved units to facilitate the decentralisation of the State organs, their function and services, from the capital of Kenya, Nairobi.
“That, the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (1GRTC) provides the National Assembly with a detailed roadmap and timelines on the proposed dissolution of the six regional development authorities and the eventual transfer of assets, liabilities and personnel to the two levels of government by June 30, 2025,” the MPs had earlier proposed.
“Following the publication of the re-validated sector exercise reports on the delineation of functions, IGRTC published the respective Gazette Notices (No. 16472 to 16483) on 16th December, 2024, on the delineated functions.”
In the budget documents for the financial year 2025/26 filed before the National Assembly, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the IGRTC, through the letter dated March 26, 2025, provided the status of the MPs' resolution.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi during the launch of the Economic Survey 2025 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in Nairobi on May 6, 2025.
“Annex 4 of this Budget Summary provides a statement of a detailed roadmap and timelines on the proposed dissolution of the six Regional Development Authorities and the Eventual Transfer of Assets, Liabilities and Personnel to the Two Levels of Government by 30t June 30, 2025,” Mr Mbadi said in the budget documents.
President Ruto in January announced sweeping reforms that will see 42 State corporations considered to have related or overlapping functions merged into 20 agencies.
The measures, announced following a Cabinet meeting at the Kakamega State Lodge, will also see several government agencies dissolved and others restructured to reduce the wastage of public resources.
Increasing fiscal pressures
"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," a memo from the Cabinet meeting read in part.
The Cabinet decision followed the National Treasury’s assessment of 271 State corporations, excluding those earmarked for privatisation, identifying areas of inefficiency and redundancy.
The report revealed that many corporations have struggled to meet their statutory obligations, resulting in pending bills amounting to Sh94.4 billion as of March 31, 2024.
Topping the list of dissolution and mergers of the 42 State corporations is the University Fund, which is set to be merged with the Higher Education Loans Board and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, which will be consolidated with the Kenya Urban Roads Authority.
The entranace to the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA)in Athi River, Machakos County, as pictured on June 24, 2020.
Others are the Kenya Tourism Board & Tourism Research Institute, the Export Processing Zones Authority & Special Economic Zones Authority, the Anti-Counterfeit Authority, Kenya Industrial Property Institute & Kenya Copyright Board, the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute & Kenya Industrial Estates, the Agricultural Finance Corporation & Commodities Fund, the Kenya Forest Service & Kenya Water Towers Agency, the Agricultural Development Corporation & Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre, the National Irrigation Authority & National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority, and the Kenya Law Reform Commission & National Council for Law Reporting.
Others are the Kenya Tourism Board & Tourism Research Institute, the Export Processing Zones Authority & Special Economic Zones Authority, the Anti-Counterfeit Authority, the Kenya Industrial Property Institute & Kenya Copyright Board, the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute & Kenya Industrial Estates, the Agricultural Finance Corporation & Commodities Fund, the Kenya Forest Service & Kenya Water Towers Agency, the Agricultural Development Corporation & Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre, the National Irrigation Authority & National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority, and the Kenya Law Reform Commission & National Council for Law Reporting.
Nine State Corporations, including the Kenya Film Classification Board, LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, Kenya Fish Marketing Authority, Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa, will be dissolved and their functions transferred back to the parent Ministry.
