Hallo Cyprian,
I don’t have a voice but you do. And I write this because of a bill being drafted called Kenya Sovereign Fund Bill 2019.
Although I applaud its efforts, I am afraid it has a lot of loopholes and concentrates to much power on the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning.
These are the key concerns:
- It strips away the identity and function of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining as they allocate all revenue derived from their operations.
- The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury is given the authority to open and operate bank accounts with foreign institutions.
- The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury also has the mandate to issue directives to the sovereign fund as opposed it being independent.
- The investment components rules and stipulation bar the funds from being invested primarily in Kenya. As a fund which seeks to secure our future, promoting and developing the nation should be a priority.
- No investment metrics have been mentioned, no minimum return, no policies, no strategies. All of them have been left for the CS to decide.
If this bill is passed, it will be the making of another 1 MBD Malaysia scandal.
