Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 522690,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/522690/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 98,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Limo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1915,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Kirui Limo",
        "slug": "joseph-kirui-limo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker for giving me this chance to contribute to this important Bill. Procurement is one of the very key processes in any Government or any institution. This is because one of the worst enemies of any production in any country is the cost of production. The main source of this cost of production is procurement. To make it very clear, this procurement Bill basically deals with public procurement, which is basically consumption. Procurement will either provide or deny Kenyans services depending on how it is designed and managed. Therefore, as we go through this Bill which is required to operationalise Article 227 of the Constitution, it is very important that we pay special attention to areas where it will make our procurement very simple, efficient and cost effective. This Bill is setting up regulatory bodies which are going to operate or regulate the procurement process. One of them is the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), whose board has seven members. On the formation of this board, I want to state very clearly that this Bill, according to me, gives excessive powers to the Cabinet Secretary. It tries to remove powers that were vested in this Parliament. They are being taken away by this Bill. So, we need to ensure that amendments which we will bring in will ensure that nomination of the Director-General is done by the Cabinet Secretary and brought to Parliament. This is a very important board, which is going to make Kenya progress. If you look at the qualifications which are stated for forming the board, a key concern which I have is the requirement to have 10 years’ experience. This is discriminatory, especially against the youth, women and people with disability. I believe in line with the Constitution these requirements should specifically mention that there should be some reservations for disadvantaged groups, that is the youth, women and people with disability. This is to ensure that they are not locked out by virtue of failure to have the 10 years’ experience as required. Hon. Speaker, again, on the same there is establishment of a review board. One of the biggest problems we have had in this country, in procurement processes, is complaining. People complain even when there is no genuine complaint. They just want to delay the process, or make sure that the process is not implemented. We should not, in any legislation, form a lot of oversight and review bodies which are going to become counterproductive as they compete for space when operating. So, if we want to succeed in this country, we must ensure that complaints which are brought after the procurement process has been finalised are very genuine. They must also be cleared as fast as possible. We are very deeply concerned that the Jubilee Government had a very good manifesto; it had promises which were given to our children. I was surprised that at one time my own child approached and asked me: “Now that the Government promised us laptops, what will the President say in 2017 because the laptops will not be there”? Then I answered him, “They will be there”. The child was then relieved that, at least, the laptops will be there. What assurance do we have in this country? It is basically the case 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."
}