The Kenyan government has announced plans to restructure its organisation to ensure greater efficiency across its bureaucracy by reducing the number of state corporations and agencies to 20 and addressing existing overlaps in public administration.
According to President William Ruto, who was speaking as he chaired the first Cabinet meeting of 2025 at State Lodge, Kakamega, the move is in line with Kenya Kwanza’s commitment to streamline government operational efficiency, reduce waste and curb excesses, and align with modern administrative and service demands.
“The reforms will address operational and financial inefficiencies, enhance service delivery, and reduce reliance on the Exchequer,” the President said. “The reforms include merging 42 state corporations with overlapping or related mandates into 20 entities to improve operational efficiency and eliminate redundancy.”
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He added: “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.”
State corporations that have been merged in Kenya – 2025
Forty-two state corporations with duplicating, overlapping or related mandates are proposed for mergers to form 20 entities as detailed below:
1. University Fund to merge with Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)
2. Kenya Tourism Board to merge with Tourism Research Institute
3. Export Processing Zones Authority to merge with Special Economic Zones Authority
4. Anti-Counterfeit Authority to merge with Kenya Industrial Property Institute and Kenya Copyright Board
5. Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute to merge with Kenya Industrial Estates
6. Agricultural Finance Corporation to merge with Commodities Fund
7. Kenya Forest Service to merge with Kenya Water Towers Agency
8. Agricultural Development Corporation to merge with Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre
9. National Irrigation Authority to merge with National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority
10. Kenya Law Reform Commission to merge with National Council for Law Reporting
11. Tourism Promotion Fund to merge with Tourism Fund
12. Commission for University Education to merge with Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority and Kenya National Qualifications Authority
13. Kenya Rural Roads Authority to merge with Kenya Urban Roads Authority
14. Kenya Investment Authority to merge with Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency
15. Water Services Regulatory Board to merge with Water Regulatory Authority and Regional Center on Ground Water Resources, Education, Training and Research
16. Kenya National Trading Corporation to merge with National Cereals & Produce Board
17. Uwezo Fund to merge with Women Enterprise Fund and Youth Enterprise Development Fund
18. Kenya Medical Research Institute to merge with Kenya Institute of Primate Research
19. Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service to merge with National Bio-Safety Authority
20. Agriculture and Food Authority
Additionally, nine state corporations whose mandates can be performed under a ministry are proposed for dissolution after the functions are transferred back to the relevant ministry or other relevant state corporations in case of mergers.
These include the Kenya Tsetse Fly and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Council, the Kenya Fish Marketing Authority, the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa, the President’s Award—Kenya, the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency, the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, the National Council for Nomadic Education, the Kenya Film Classification Board, and the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO.
After the mergers and dissolutions, all professional organisations currently categorised as state corporations will also be declassified and will no longer receive government budgetary allocations.
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