NAIROBI, Kenya, July 9 – County governments may soon be required to obtain approval from their respective county assemblies before signing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreements with private investors under proposed amendments to the Public Private Partnerships (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
The proposal is contained in Clause 65 of the Public Private Partnerships (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which, if passed, would require county governments to obtain approval from their respective county assemblies before entering into a PPP project agreement.
The proposal, made by Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, aims to improve transparency and accountability in county-level infrastructural projects by ensuring that MCAs thoroughly review the terms of the proposed agreements before they approve.
Furthermore, under the proposed amendment, where a county Public-Private Partnership project requires a government support measure, the county government will be barred from signing a project agreement until a written approval from the Treasury CS.
“Subject to section 64 (5), each county government intending to undertake a public-private partnership project shall obtain the approval of the respective county assembly before undertaking the project,” the bill reads.
Another key proposal of the bill is to expand the circumstances under which the government can directly procure PPP projects, allowing contracting authorities to negotiate with a private party without going through a competitive tender process in certain circumstances.
According to the proposal, direct procurement would only be allowed in the case where the CS is satisfied that one or more prescribed conditions have been met.
However, the proposed law requires the contracting authorities seeking to use direct procurement to prepare a detailed justification demonstrating why the method is appropriate and how it is in line with the legal requirements.
The justification would then be reviewed by the Public-Private Partnership Directorate and would require approval by the Cabinet Secretary before negotiations with the selected private party begin.
According to the CS, direct engagement with the private party shall significantly lower the cost of delivering the works or services on the basis of the project’s qualifying for funding on such terms as the Government shall approve without such outcomes becoming part of the public debt.
