Roadmap to Singapore: MPs approve Ksh.5 trillion Infrastructure Fund Bill

The National Assembly has passed the National Infrastructure Fund Bill, which now awaits assent by President William Ruto to become law.

The Bill, which was approved with significant amendments, gives Parliament and the President more power in the control of the much-publicised Ksh.5 trillion fund, expected to boost President William Ruto’s “Singapore dream” of transforming Kenya into a developed country.

The Bill, which has been touted as one of the most consequential in the history of Kenya’s Parliament since Sessional Paper No.10 spearheaded by former Minister for Economic Planning Thomas Joseph Mboya in 1965, sailed through Parliament with crucial amendments.

Parliament approved an amendment to establish a governing council for the fund.

It will comprise the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, the Attorney General and six other members who are not public officers.

The role of the new organ will include: To provide overall direction and counsel to the board, oversee the development of investment policy and be responsible for the recruitment of directors of the board.

The amendment appears to respond to concerns raised by Kenyans and parliamentarians over the excessive powers of the Treasury Cabinet Secretary in the original Bill.

The CS will no longer be a member of the board. Instead, the board will comprise eight persons: four independent directors to be competitively recruited by the governing council; three public officers appointed based on their expertise or position; and the chief executive officer, an ex officio member hired by the board of directors.

The powers of the Treasury CS, which would have seen him decide the benefits of board members, have also been drastically reduced. The CS will now be required to seek advice from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission before setting the board’s benefits.

MPs also enhanced their oversight role over the fund by requiring that the board’s investment policy be tabled before the National Assembly by the Treasury CS for approval. The House will have 90 days to consider the policy and make a decision.

“Let us give ourselves power. Don’t take away power. It is our time to take power,” said Kathiani MP Robert Mbui.

National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichung’wah, said, “As we go to Singapore through Canaan, these members of the 13th Assembly will have their place in the history of Kenya and in heaven. The journey to Singapore has been crystallised. It is not only real; we can see it. We can now see how clear the vision is. We have now put the roadmap to the first world.”

National Assembly Finance Committee Chairperson, Kimani Kuria, added, “We are going to have highways because of this law. We will have data centres. I will not be using eight hours from here to Nakuru and Molo.”

During the debate on Tuesday and Wednesday, MPs raised concerns over ambiguity regarding the types of projects the fund would support.

The House has now specified that the fund will focus on national infrastructure projects, including national highways, railway networks, airports, seaports, electricity generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, as well as water reservoirs, irrigation and agribusiness infrastructure.

“I wish those who are in the United Opposition there can set up an economic council to give Kenyans an alternative. When you are a young man or a young leader, don’t copy the habits of the old people who have no plan,” said Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah.