10 Economic Legislative Reforms Before the National Assembly: Will They Have an Impact?

More than 10 economic legislative reforms are either before the National Assembly for approvals or in advanced stages.

Kenya is one of the countries with so many laws most of which are always left in files to gather dust in shelves with no impact being felt.

Some of the economic legislative reforms before the National Include:

The Competition (Amendment) Bill 2019

The Bill seeks to empower the Competition Authority to impose penalties for the abuse of buyer power and ensure prompt payment of suppliers.

If successful, the bill will help in shielding suppliers who have had to go without pay for months or even years after supplying their goods and services to both government and private sectors.

The Insurance Act (Amendment) Bill 2019

This Bill brings clarity on the operations of the Policy Holder’s Compensation Fund and enables the Fund to be used to compensate claimants.

The County Governments’ Revenue Raising Process Bill 2018

This Bill is set to regulate the introduction of levies by County Governments. It is aimed at shielding residents of a county from being subjected to levies that will not be within the law by County Governments.

The National Electronic Single Window Bill 2019

The Bill is in an advanced stage of legal drafting and it seeks to formalize the issuance of electronic permits through the National Single Window System.

The Sovereign Wealth Bill 2019

This Bill is also in an advanced stage of legal drafting and it seeks to establish a fund for the investments of revenues from oil, gas and mineral resources.

The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury has also proposed changes in the following legislation that touches on the economy:

The Capital Markets Act (2013)

This is set to empower the Capital Markets Authority to enforce penalties on players in the market violating rules and procedures.

The Banking (Amendment) Act of 2016

The CS proposes the repealing of section 33B of the Act that introduced interest rate capping.

The Retirement Benefits Act, 1997, the Occupational Benefits Regulations and the Retirement Benefits Regulations.

The change is set to reduce the transfer period of Retirement Benefits Schemes that invest in guaranteed funds to one year so as to allow members to access returns.

The government in the final stages of issuing the Public Procuring and Asset Disposal Regulations which will fully operationalize the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.

The Public Finance Management (Biashara Kenya Fund) Regulations 2019 has been submitted to the National Assembly. The regulations seek to consolidate the Uwezo Fund, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the Women Enterprise Development Fund.)