Kenya: Govt. Seeks To Abolish Film Classification Board, Handing Regulation Directly To Ministry

Kenya’s film regulator could soon disappear. A new Bill before Parliament wants to do away with the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) altogether, handing its powers straight to the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the sector.

The Films and Stage Plays Amendment Bill, 2026, sponsored by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, would dissolve the Board and revert its functions to the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy. It’s part of a broader push by Cabinet to restructure state corporations that officials say are costing too much and delivering too little. As the Bill puts it, the goal is to “amend the Films and Stage Plays Act, Cap. 222 to provide for the dissolution of the Kenya Film Classification Board and revert the functions performed by the Board to the relevant Ministry.”

In practice, that means the word “Board” would be removed from the law entirely and replaced with “Cabinet Secretary.” Day-to-day duties, registering, examining, and licensing films, would fall to licensing officers, public servants appointed by the Cabinet Secretary rather than Board staff. Those officers would decide whether a film gets approved, rejected, or sent back for edits, and they’d have the authority to physically cut out anything deemed unfit, keeping the removed footage on file. Films rated “for adults only” would still come with a hard rule: no children allowed at screenings.

Not everything changes, though. Existing licences and approvals remain valid until they expire or are revoked, and any applications still with KFCB when the law takes effect will carry over to the Cabinet Secretary.

Also, pending court cases involving the Board would continue, with the Cabinet Secretary stepping in as the new party. The Bill also spells out what happens to KFCB’s assets and liabilities; the National Treasury would issue a gazette notice detailing exactly how and when those are handed over.

And KFCB’s staff won’t be left without jobs. The Bill says anyone employed there when the law takes effect “shall… be redeployed in the public service” — so the roles disappear, but not the people in them.

There’s a wrinkle worth noting: cinemas and public entertainment technically fall under county government control, per the Constitution’s Fourth Schedule, so counties will have some stake in how this plays out. And in a bit of irony, the Bill itself admits that a reform meant to cut government costs could end up costing the government more to implement, at least in the short term.

If passed, it would mark the end of a body that has overseen Kenyan film classification for years, replaced by a system run directly by a government ministry.