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{
    "id": 1145013,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1145013/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 212,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Gatanga, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joseph Nduati",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13338,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Nduati Ngugi",
        "slug": "joseph-nduati-ngugi-2"
    },
    "content": "the amendments. This is going to provide us with an opportunity of correcting the wrongs which happened when the laws were made in 2015. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2015 went in with so many mistakes. One of the major mistakes which really affected this industry is a clause which gave power to the tenderer or the contractor to have authority over the owner of the project. I am a Member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and there was a time we were auditing a building and I could not understand why the main contractor could not let in the sub-contractor. When I read the Act, I realised that we made a mistake and allowed the contractor to have authority on the usage of specialised works and contingencies. This is not a normal practice in the industry. This is a golden moment to correct that. Reading clause 2, I am very happy that we are redefining who a procurement professional is. When this Act was made, we created someone who we called ‘a procurement professional;’ someone whose training is not well known. This amendment will now allow engineers, architects and quantity surveyors to participate. Previously, many mistakes have occurred because works have been done by engineers and quantity surveyors who take the documents to the procurement professionals who normally delay the executions of the works. I am happy that now we are going to bring them on board. Again, it is good that the local contractor has been defined here; it is good for this country. It has been Government policy that 30 per cent of all major procurements should be given to local contractors. However, this has not happened and it will not happen until we correct this problem. Unless the procurement departments come up with a clear criterion and define that 30 per cent in the documents and make a provision of paying that 30 per cent directly, these foreign contractors are still going to undercut our local people. We have seen many Chinese who are doing major projects here. Despite having these provisions in the contract, most times, they do not give our local people anything. It is high time for the procurement department to come up with a clear criterion of how that work will be shared out. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, clause 12(a) is a good amendment because it says that we must conduct market surveys to inform the pricing of orders. This is very important not only for biro pens and these minor things. We are suffering in this country because the Chinese are pricing our work, yet we do not even have a document to compare against. A majority of them are underpricing works such that you find that most of our roads have stalled. You cannot come from China, not involve a local person and be able to price for hardcore and murram. Unless the procurement departments are allowed to come up with correct market surveys – like it used to happen at the Ministry of Public Works – where we used to have a booklet documenting all the current construction costs. This is important and it should be brought back. Clause 82 is also a good amendment as it says that now contracts shall not be subject to corrections, revisions or any adjustment. What has been happening is that some people tender low and then when the corrections are made, the price is increased, which has been unfair to this country. That is a major amendment."
}