President William Ruto has challenged opponents of the government’s privatisation agenda, defending initiatives to list Kenya Pipeline and Safaricom on the stock market. He insisted that transparent market valuation should reassure the public and urged critics to refrain from misleading narratives.
Speaking at State House on Friday during an engagement with graduate interns under the Affordable Housing Programme, Ruto stressed that the listing of public companies follows strict and open market procedures.
“Any public listed company, the tested, proven, transparent valuation is done by the capital market, at the exchange. It’s not done in boardrooms,” he said.
The President accused some of using political motives to misrepresent the process. “Those people giving us lectures about what we’re doing with the Kenya Pipeline IPO and Safaricom should spare us their political conmanship and intellectual deceit,” he said.
Ruto outlined the benefits of privatisation and divestment, describing them as strategies that raise resources, improve corporate governance, and expand ownership of public assets to ordinary citizens. Highlighting the Kenya Pipeline IPO, he said the move allows Kenyans from all financial backgrounds to hold a stake in a key national asset.
“We all agreed that divesting and privatisation is a prudent way of raising resources. Today, we are in the market in the Kenya Pipeline IPO; it’s going to democratise the ownership of a public asset like Kenya Pipeline,” he said.
Encouraging participation, the President noted that even small investments would enable citizens to acquire shares. “I want to ask every Kenyan, with only Sh900, you can buy 100 shares of Kenya Pipeline and you can continue to buy more. Let us all own a piece of the good we have built together,” Ruto said.
He maintained that the privatisation process is guided by market principles and cautioned that politically driven criticism should not distort public understanding. Listing state-owned companies, he said, presents an opportunity for ordinary Kenyans to share in national wealth and economic growth.
During the forum, Ruto praised the contribution of young professionals to the Affordable Housing Programme, noting their importance in executing large-scale national projects. He encouraged interns to use the opportunity to learn and innovate in their respective fields.
“I am happy when I see the men and women, professionals from the construction industry who are planners, surveyors, engineers, people who work in the ICT space. I am proud the housing programme is maturing and we have professionals, workers and consulting firms in the equation,” he said.
The President’s remarks come amid rising debates over the pace and method of privatising strategic public enterprises, with opponents questioning the transparency of the process. Ruto, however, remains firm that the initiatives are open, regulated, and designed to benefit all Kenyans.
