Kenya’s most powerful business lobby has rejected a government bill that would create a new statutory council to coordinate private sector advocacy, calling the proposal unnecessary and poorly consulted.
The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) says the Public-Private Engagement Bill, 2025, should be scrapped. Instead, the government should simply grant statutory status to KNCCI itself, as President William Ruto had earlier indicated in writing.
Chamber leaders call process flawed
Speaking in separate interviews, KNCCI Coast regional director Shakir Swaleh and Lower Eastern director Mutavi Kithu accused the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of sidelining the chamber during drafting.
Swaleh said public participation was limited to only five counties and skipped Nairobi entirely. “We have members in all 47 counties down to the grassroots,” he said. “We should have been at the center of this process from day one.”
“We have rejected the bill and returned it to the sender,” Swaleh added. “We call on all business membership organizations to stand with us.”
Kithu said Ruto had directed that any new body be developed jointly with KNCCI and funded by the chamber. The current draft, he argued, is silent on funding for the proposed Business Council of Kenya and risks creating a costly parallel structure.
Government insists bill will unify, not weaken, private sector
Investment Promotion Principal Secretary Abubakar Hassan pushed back Wednesday, saying the legislation is meant to fix long-standing problems caused by dozens of competing business lobbies.
Kenya’s private sector has grown into a patchwork of industry associations, county chambers and special-interest groups, Hassan said. The result has often produced conflicting messages that slow reforms and weaken bargaining power with the government.
“The policy and bill provide a structured, predictable and transparent framework for collaboration,” Hassan said in a statement. He stressed that the new Business Council of Kenya would not replace or control existing organizations but would serve as a coordination platform.
Under the draft, business groups would keep full autonomy over membership, leadership and day-to-day advocacy, he said.
Wider implications for Kenya’s economic reforms
The clash comes as the Ruto administration tries to streamline public-private dialogue to speed up its Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, which focuses on manufacturing, housing and digital jobs.
Business leaders worry the council could become another layer of bureaucracy or a tool for the government to hand-pick which voices are heard. Supporters say a single platform is needed to match the coordinated approach used by East African neighbors such as Rwanda and Ethiopia.
KNCCI President Erick Rutto had earlier proposed in public speeches that his organization be made the official statutory umbrella, a position the chamber is now doubling down on.
With the bill still in draft form, both sides are calling for wider consultations. Business groups want fresh county-by-county hearings; the ministry says it is open to input but believes the current framework already addresses most concerns.
For now, the proposed law remains in limbo, highlighting persistent friction between Kenya’s private sector and a government eager to centralize economic decision-making.
