Lawmakers have moved to lock away a bigger share of Kenya's future oil and mineral earnings after voting to increase the portion of the proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund reserved for future generations from 10 percent to 30 percent.
The decision also places the savings beyond the reach of government borrowing, marking one of the biggest changes to the Bill as Parliament seeks to protect the country's resource wealth before production picks up.
The National Assembly Finance and National Planning Committee secured the amendments to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill, 2026 during debate in the Committee of the Whole House. The changes reshape how money flowing into the fund will be shared and introduce stronger safeguards on the savings set aside for future generations.
The amended Bill now provides that 30 percent of all money deposited into the Holding Account at the Central Bank of Kenya will be transferred to the Future Generation Component. The fund is intended to build savings over time and provide support for national development after the country's petroleum and mineral resources are depleted.
The remaining 70 percent of the deposits will be shared between the Stabilisation Component and the Strategic Infrastructure Investment Component. Their allocations will be determined at the start of every financial year by the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the Board of the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The move also removes a provision in the original Bill that left the Treasury Cabinet Secretary with full authority to decide how deposits into the Sovereign Wealth Fund would be divided among its three components.
"Any deposits into the Holding Account shall be transferred into the respective components of the Fund in proportions specified by the Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the Board at the beginning of each financial year considering conditions specified under section 5(2)," the original Bill states.
Finance and National Planning Committee chairperson Kuria Kimani told the House the amendment to Clause 8 was meant to remove uncertainty over how the fund would be shared.
“As currently drafted, the Bill gives the Cabinet Secretary discretion to determine proportions into each of the three components,” Mr Kimani said while moving amendments to the Bill on Thursday, July 2, 2026.
The committee also introduced a new provision under Clause 46 to protect the Future Generation Component from being pledged or accessed through borrowing arrangements.
“The Future Generation Component shall not be used to make advances or loans or provide any other form of credit to a government entity or any person, or as collateral for borrowing by a government entity or any person,” a new clause to the Bill states.
“The amendment seeks to clarify prohibitions against using the Future Generations Component as collateral for borrowing by a government entity.”
The new protection was backed by lawmakers who argued that the savings should remain untouched regardless of future financing arrangements adopted by the government.
“We know the country has gotten a new way of borrowing through securitisation. We must make sure the Sovereign Wealth Fund is safeguarded in a way it cannot disappear after it is securitised. We should do the same with a number of funds passed by this House to ensure that a rogue regime does not seize the Future Generation Component," Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji said.