Treasury Takeover: Bill Would Abolish Six Kenyan Regional Development Authorities and Absorb Their LiabilitiesTreasury Takeover: Bill Would Abolish Six Kenyan Regional Development Authorities and Absorb Their Liabilities

The Regional Development Authorities Laws (Repeal) Bill, 2026, sponsored by Leader of the Majority Party Kimani Ichung'wa, would end agencies that have handled irrigation, water supply, energy and infrastructure projects. Because those projects often cross county boundaries, the proposal raises a practical question about who will plan, fund and finish them once the authorities are gone.

Which authorities would close

The Bill names six agencies: the Kerio Valley Development Authority, the Lake Basin Development Authority, the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority, the Ewaso Ng'iro South Development Authority, the Ewaso Ng'iro North Development Authority and the Coast Development Authority.

If it passes, the authorities' rights, obligations, assets and liabilities would pass to the National Treasury, which would bring their operations under central government fiscal management. The article reporting the Bill says contracts and functions would also transfer. It does not say what would happen to staff, and no monetary figures for the assets or liabilities involved have been published.

The case for and against

The government says it wants to reduce expenditure and cut duplication between national and county governments. Supporters argue that some of the authorities' functions overlap with responsibilities that the Constitution assigns to counties under devolution.

The Postal Corporation of Kenya is cited as a recent example of a state entity placed under the Treasury. The restructuring must still clarify how projects that span several counties will be coordinated and funded after the agencies are abolished, a gap that the Bill's supporters have not yet filled in public.

How the public can respond

The National Assembly's Departmental Committee on Regional Development will hold Phase II of its public hearings on the Bill on Friday, 23 October 2026, in Kilifi, Kisumu and Embu. Clerk of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge said the committee had resolved to hold the hearings on that date in those three towns. Members of the public and stakeholders may give oral representations or submit written memoranda through the National Assembly.

County governments, farmers on irrigation schemes and contractors with unpaid bills are among those with a direct interest, since contracts would move to the Treasury if the Bill becomes law.

The wider fiscal picture

The Bill arrives as the Treasury works to contain public debt. As Mwenendo earlier reported, Treasury projections show public debt rising by KSh 1.35T ($10.43B) in 2027/28, after a rise of KSh 1.15T ($8.83B) in 2026/27, while the next IMF programme still has no start date.

Folding agency liabilities into the Treasury's books would make them part of that debt picture rather than leaving them with separate bodies.

Mwenendo also reported on how Kenya expects an IMF Article IV review in December, not a new loan, which means the Treasury's accounts will face outside scrutiny before the year ends.

What to watch before the vote

The Bill still has to complete public participation, pass committee scrutiny and win a vote in the House. The figures that would show the scale of the transfer, namely the authorities' liabilities and the number of staff, have not been put in front of the public so far. Anyone planning to submit views on 23 October should ask the committee for those numbers first.