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{
    "id": 522785,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/522785/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mohamed Abass",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2983,
        "legal_name": "Abass Sheikh Mohamed",
        "slug": "abass-sheikh-mohamed"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, mine will be very short. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to support this very timely Bill. This Bill has checks and balances but there are some gaps. As a former public officer, I know that the Government loses a lot of money, especially through public procurement. About 36 per cent of the goods and services procured are overcharged. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Bill does not give proper opportunity to the youth. The Government policy of setting aside 30 per cent of contracts to the youth and women has not been implemented. So, we need to revise the Bill to provide for that policy. The Government loses a lot of money through the restricted tendering system, especially in secretive military and other security agencies equipment. There should be a timeframe for making procurement public, so that Kenyans can know what has been procured through restricted tendering. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Bill does not take care of the Monitoring and Evaluation systems. It takes too long for a body like the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) to know how much money has been lost and what has been procured. The Bill seeks to only deal with those who will contravene the Act by providing a penalty of Kshs4million. However, there is penalty for those who will collude with those people who will contravene the Act. We need to bring an amendment to introduce a penalty for collusion. Most of the rich people in this country are public officers and contractors. That shows how much this country is losing to cowboy contractors through unscrupulous tendering deals. Therefore, we need to amend this Bill and introduce penalties for collusion to deter the habit of some people getting money through unscrupulous means, so that we can close all the loopholes for stealing. With those few remarks, I beg to support the Bill."
}