Treasury seeks disposal of old cars, furniture in hunt for cash

Treasury orders auction of old government vehicles, furniture and equipment to raise cash. [File, Standard]

After selling a stake in the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and trying to offload a stake in Safaricom, President William Ruto's cash-strapped government has turned to a less glamorous source of funds: used vehicles, ageing furniture, and obsolete computer equipment held by public entities.

The government, through the National Treasury, has ordered all public entities to auction off those assets immediately, as the Ruto administration scours every corner of the State for cash to service a mounting debt pile.

The directive, issued by Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi in a circular seen by Financial Standard and referenced TNT/PPD/1/3/34(17), directs accounting officers across national and county governments to conduct "a comprehensive review of their asset registers, stores records and inventories" and to ensure disposal plans are "prepared and implemented within the applicable financial year and are not unnecessarily deferred from one financial year to another."

The assets earmarked for sale include vehicles, machinery, equipment, furniture, ICT equipment and other stores requiring storage, security, insurance, repairs or preservation.

"Prolonged retention of such assets imposes costs on the government and may lead to further deterioration, loss of value, higher storage and maintenance costs, facility congestion and in some cases, security and accountability risks," Mbadi warned in the circular.

Mbadi framed the exercise as a core part of prudent financial management, saying timely disposal is "not merely an administrative requirement" but a means to "release financial value from idle assets by converting those that are no longer required into financial resources through authorised disposal methods" and to "reduce unnecessary procurement" by redistributing surplus assets across government.

The move to sell off furniture and ageing vehicles marks an escalation in the government's scramble for cash wherever it can find it.

It comes only after the State has already pushed through the sale of stakes in some of its most prized assets, including a 65 per cent stake in KPC through an initial public offering that raised Sh106 billion.

The State also attempted to divest 15 per cent of Safaricom to Vodacom for about Sh245 billion, a transaction the High Court declared unconstitutional in September this year. Treasury has vowed to appeal that ruling.

The government owns thousands of assets across its ministries, departments and agencies, from vehicle fleets to office furniture and ageing computer equipment worth tens of billions.

That such items are now being formally targeted for disposal, even as the State pursues the sale of strategic parastatals, underscores the depth of the fiscal squeeze, analysts say.

The Ruto privatisation list has expanded beyond the initial batch. The Cabinet has approved the sale of seven additional State-owned enterprises, bringing the total number of entities earmarked for privatisation to 17.

Among those identified are the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK), Kenya Literature Bureau, Kenya Seed Company, New Kenya Co-operative Creameries, Numerical Machining Complex, Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers, Rivatex East Africa and the Development Bank of Kenya.

Ruto has said the government is poised to privatise 35 State companies and is looking at a further 100 from which stakes could be sold, with hopes of raising Sh1.3 trillion.

The government has also revived plans to concession sections of the Lamu, Kisumu and Mombasa ports in a bid to raise Sh1.3 trillion from private investors.

The move comes as Kenya's public debt has ballooned beyond the Sh13 trillion mark, equivalent to roughly 70 per cent of GDP, with debt servicing consuming a large share of ordinary revenue.

The Treasury has acknowledged that public debt "is unsustainable and continues to reduce the budget available for critical development projects."

Treasury defended the latest programme as transparent and legally grounded.

Mbadi stated that disposal must be "undertaken transparently, competitively and in accordance with the provisions of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, the Regulations and applicable guidelines," and that "all disposal transactions are properly documented and accurately reflected in the entity's asset and financial records."

The Cabinet Secretary also put the onus on accounting officers to take personal responsibility for the exercise, noting that the responsibility "should therefore not be viewed solely as a function of the Supply Chain Management Unit or the Disposal Committee, but as an institutional responsibility requiring active oversight by the Accounting Officer and the relevant management structures as provided for under Section 44 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015."

The Standard could not immediately reach CS Mbadi for comment.

World Bank economists have cautioned that asset sales offer only temporary relief. In its 2026 Kenya Economic Outlook, the lender said selling public assets "can only temporarily ease fiscal pressure and cannot fundamentally solve the debt problem," warning that high debt and rigid spending continue to squeeze fiscal space and crowd out private-sector credit.

The circular requires all public entities to report on the status of the disposal exercise to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority and copy the National Treasury by December 31, 2026.

"Accounting officers and heads of public entities are expected to provide effective oversight to minimise wastage, optimise resource utilisation, unlock value from public assets and strengthen accountability in public resource management," Mbadi said in the circular.