This archive report was first published on 23 December 2019.
On December 23, 2019, the National Assembly made significant changes to the Central Bank of Kenya's (CBK) powers over the Kenya Mortgage Refinancing Company (KMRC), a state-owned mortgage financier.
The move came after the committee on Delegated Legislation raised concerns that the CBK had been given too much authority over the KMRC through the Central Bank of Kenya (Mortgage Refinance Companies) Regulations, 2019.
The regulations, developed by CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge, aimed to implement the mortgage refinance legal regime introduced to the CBK Act through the Finance Act, 2018.
The Finance Act 2018 had amended the CBK Act to provide a legal framework for the CBK to license and regulate the mortgage refinance business.
As part of the regulations, the CBK had given itself the power to unilaterally determine the manner in which a place of business may be opened, relocated or closed.
However, the committee argued that this was an inappropriate delegation of legislative powers to the CBK, as guidelines must be submitted to the National Assembly for approval.
According to Gladys Shollei, chair of the committee, 'Guidelines are statutory instruments within the meaning of Section 2 of the Statutory Instruments Act and if made by CBK, must be submitted to the National for Approval.'
