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{
    "id": 523268,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/523268/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "I am also happy with the definition of “urgent need”. A lot of times, procurement rules are violated on the pretext of an urgent need when clearly there is no urgency involved at all. The fact that “urgent need” has been clearly defined is good; now we will avoid frivolousness in procurement that will be done with vested interest encapsulated as urgent needs. However, I have a problem when I go to the body of the Bill. This is owing to the fact that I am in this House with a professional background and training in engineering; at the same time there are several of my colleagues who are here professionally trained as doctors, lawyers, valuers and architects. Clause 5(1) of this Bill says: “This Act shall prevail in case of any inconsistency between this Act and any other legislation or Government notices or circulars, in matters relating to procurement and asset disposal.” I want to submit before this House that those of us who have professional backgrounds know that the procedures we use when we are procuring professional services cannot be the same as when you are procuring such things as pencils, pens and toilet paper. To have a blanket provision such as this one throws us back to where we have come from. There is a background to this. The professionals of this country have been seized of this matter and there have been a lot of debate on this matter, Professional societies in Kenya have had a lot of engagements with the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA). Out of this engagement, on the 10th February, 2012, PPOA realising the difficulty of lampooning procurement of professional services along the same procedures as those you use to procure other tangible goods came with the circular, PPOA Circular No. 1/2012 of 10th February. This Circular says the following in paragraph 1, and I wish to quote: “The Public Procurement Oversight Authority has in the recent past received various complaints by professional bodies over the manner in which the procurement of professional services is carried out by procuring entities (PEs). Their main concern is that PEs ought to request technical proposals only and, thereafter, negotiate on the contract price with the technically qualified bidder, citing that their respective legislations bar professionals from charging below laid down fees.” The reason why this clause, as currently provided, is actually not workable is because we have professional bodies which are guided by specific Acts of Parliament. As engineers, for example, we have the Engineers Act, which clearly guides the profession of engineering. The architects and quantity surveyors have the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Act, Chapter 525 of the Laws of Kenya, which clearly guides and sets out the minimum fees that are chargeable by those professions. In fact, under the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Act and the Engineers Act it is actually illegal to charge below the minimum fees. Hon. Speaker, even you are a lawyer and I am sure even the lawyers have provisions which clearly stipulate how much fees you can charge for professional services. I do not think it is vanity that professionals in Kenya have been gunning for their services to be charged as per the laws governing specific professions. I would probably want to give you a background. When you are talking about professional services, what 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."
}