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{
    "id": 472204,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/472204/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 179,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 193,
        "legal_name": "Peter Anyang' Nyong'o",
        "slug": "peter-nyongo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to second this Bill which has been moved, very ably, by the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki, from the other side. I think he has gone into details of the implications of the amendment both to the principal Act and to the Constitution. The Articles of the Constitution that he referred to state very well that in public procurement, the youth, the disabled, women and children must be taken into account. The Bill provides for the percentages that are necessary. This one requires an Act of Parliament for us to go into detail on how it will be done. I will not repeat what my colleague has said. However, I would like to point out the following. One, indeed, he emphasized on how companies owned by women, youth and the disabled will be identified to the extent that they can be called companies that are for youths or companies that are established by women. I hope that in practice, this will not open doors for what we may refer to as imaginative entrepreneurs. By this, I mean people who will make sure that they get some youths, women and the disabled who have absolutely no interest in a company and provide them with tender documents among other things. They should not get women who have no interests and reap the benefits. Kenyans are very good at this. Probably, this is something that we should be aware of. Due diligence should be done. I do not know whether at the Committee Stage a rider can be added to this effect. However, in our Committee, we did an amendment which more or less said, in the event that some malpractices are discovered, there will be very serious penalties to be faced. I think that amendment was proposed by our Committee. This is quite possible. It can happen and can tarnish the good name of this law which aims at doing social justice and creating equity to those who have been discriminated against in terms of progress in the past. The second issue about this Bill, which is equally important, is that procurement has always been an avenue for primitive accumulation in Government. Procurement officers themselves are personally interested in the outcome of particular tenders and will leak information selectively to particular people bidding for tenders. This selective leakage of information which has been a big problem in Government must, indeed, be avoided, especially where people entering the ring have what I would call “regional innocence.” This is the first time that women and the youth will be introduced to these malpractices that procurement officers are involved in. I do not mean all of them, but most of them have been involved in this dangerous practice. If they are initiated into this malpractice where you get leaked information so that you procure wealth that will set a very bad circle of events to follow. An innocent group of people called the youth, the disabled and women will enter into practices that are not good and which will make the fight against corruption more complicated. That is one thing I wanted to take note of in practice. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}