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{
    "id": 232861,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/232861/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 344,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Oburu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 194,
        "legal_name": "Oburu Ngona Odinga",
        "slug": "oburu-odinga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Bill, which has been before the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade. This morning, we were discussing this Bill and we will present some amendments which we propose to make. That notwithstanding, this Bill is an improvement on the Public Procurement and Disposal Act which was discussed here and passed. Procurement is a very important aspect of governance and improving the livelihoods of Kenyans. This country, for a long time, had been yearning for the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. We are not quite happy that the Bill was passed, yet it is not operational. I hope that the Minister will make some regulations with his officers to operationalise the Public Procurement and Disposal Act so that Kenyans can benefit from an Act of Parliament which is very crucial in the improvement of the livelihood of ordinary Kenyans. It is a well known fact that supplies officers in this Government, particularly, in the rural areas, are some of the richest people in this country. They are very junior people and seconded to the District Commissioner's (DC) Offices. They are richer than DC's and other senior officials. That is a fact because there are loopholes in the current procurement system in this country. The procurement officers have access to resources that they can use with impunity, yet we talk about corruption at the top, not knowing that it has been decentralised. This Bill intends to cover not only the public sector but also to introduce professionalism in the private sector. The Bill does not say that the procurement officers who are already working in those positions will be sacked. It gives them an opportunity to be true professionals who can work under a regulatory system to prove their work. This Bill also gives hope to young Kenyans who want to become professionals so that people are not obsessed with becoming engineers, lawyers and doctors, forgetting that there are equally good opportunities in the procurement sector, that is very crucial to the development of the economy of this country. This Bill puts bench-marks in which ethics and professional standards of procurement officers will be measured so that the profession is not left loose. If left loose, many people would not know whether it is worthwhile to take procurement as a profession. It is not recognised by law. There is no law regulating the procurement sector as a profession. The procurement Bill recognised the importance of the procurement profession and it is stated so. However, it did not go further in establishing institutions under the profession. Who is a professional in procurement? This Bill intends to close that lacuna or gap, in the profession. The gap will be completely closed by this Bill which is before this House. It is well known that regulatory bodies for most professions in this country like engineering, law and medicine were created during the colonial times. They were created to be exclusive clubs for a few professionals who would preserve for themselves lucrative Government jobs and the prestige that goes with the membership. Owing to that, they came up with very stringent rules for joining the clubs. Even professionals who had undergone training, for instance in engineering November 28, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3983 would find it difficult to join the engineers professional body because they had to go through examinations which were very artificial. There was no clear criteria as to why the examinations had to be taken."
}