Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1144981,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1144981/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 180,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "definition of who is a local contractor into the Act, which basically paves way for inclusion of categories such as sole proprietorships, which are now defined as contractors, partnerships, corporate societies, individual consultants, associations and groups that are registered in Kenya. This basically gives more opportunities and prudence to access public procurement opportunities to as many citizens as possible who can now apply to offer those services or supply goods to their Governments and agencies. The Bill also introduces the idea of training of non-procurement professionals who, incidentally, are involved in procurement processes such as the user departments, disposal and contract implementation teams and suppliers. Additionally, the Bill proposes to amend Section 26 of the Act which speaks to the publication of the draft annual report by the Procurement Authority to require the Board to publish the final report as opposed to the draft. The Bill further seeks to amend Section 43 of the PPDA by adding a new provision that is aimed at enhancing transparency in procurement and provision of information to the potential bidders. This is to allow them to plan and organise to respond to procurement opportunities. As Members will appreciate, transparency is one of the cardinal principles by which procurement law is meant to operate and, as such, any amendment to the Act that is calculated to enhance transparency should be a welcome provision to enhance the PPDA. Another far reaching proposal of the amendment is that it seeks to amend Section 43 of the Act to empower the head of procurement function to carry out some market survey to inform the placing of orders or decision making on the relevant procurement Authority. This is to avoid purchasing items at inflated prices. I believe Members have all experienced through the comparison of what they do in terms of the contract they offer on NG-CDF vis-à-vis the contracts that are awarded through the public procurement; even on the simple issue like construction of a classroom. You will find that the NG-CDF may be able to complete that procurement for classrooms at less than Kshs1 million, but when it comes to schools being given money through the infrastructure grants, the value could go up to Kshs.1.5 million. This market survey would include, for example, if the NG-CDF can do it for Kshs1 million, why is the Government procuring it at Kshs.1.5 million? These are some of the things that would help drive down the cost of public procurement, reduce the wastage of funds, give better value to the Kenyan people, and as part of the bigger war on corruption which can only be better for this country. The public procurement systems are at the centre of the wider strategic management of public funds to promote that overall value for money. Any changes we make on this Floor, we just make sure that whatever amount we appropriate in this House, will go a long way in achieving better outcomes than we have been doing in the past. We have had quotations and citations that we lose up to about 30 per cent of budget through procurement-related corruption. That could be going towards even what His Excellency the President calculated for us in terms of what the 30 per cent means; almost like Kshs.2 billion daily. If you are talking about Kshs700 billion being lost to procurement losses, then any tightening up that we do to bring that figure down will only mean that we can have more money cascading to the people, whose lives we really need to uplift for them to get out of poverty through the social investment that we make by ensuring value for money. I would not see why we would not want to support such. This Bill – and Members will remember - is important that we get on with it given the urgency of trying to reform procurement infrastructure and hence the earlier we approve it, the better, so that as we go home later in the year, then the 12th Parliament can stand tall and say that it helped in sorting out the public procurement losses, thus giving Kenyans value for their money. I do not want to belabour the point. The matter is straight forward. The Departmental Committee The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}