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"id": 80641,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Oyongo Nyamweya",
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"legal_name": "Manson Oyongo Nyamweya",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me time to support the appointment of Mr. Juma as the Director General of PPOA. One thing I want to make clear here is that the Director-General of the Public Procurement Oversight Authority plays a major role in terms of safeguarding public assets and educating Government officers and parastatals on how procurement procedures should be followed. He will help the Government, if he takes his job seriously as prescribed by the Act, to save a lot of money for this nation. He is expected to take time to train officers in the civil service on the importance of following the rules on public procurement. We have a problem in this country because of a situation where--- Last week in this House, we were dealing with a Motion where the Government was procuring goods without following procedures. I hope this man, who has been given this job as the Director-General, will move with speed, first and foremost, to set up a budget on which it will work. Secondly, he should employ more qualified staff to assist him in engineering, accounting and law. This department is very critical in reducing corruption in this country and saving money for the Government, so that there will be fairness in business practices outside there, where currently, institutions make mistakes. I hope with the appointment and confirmation of this man, he will be able to take necessary steps on how he is going to come up with a system to control Government expenditure and a system to stop tenders after investigations, where he feels the due process is not being followed. The Act gives this man the authority to do that. He will be able to stop any issue before a mistake is committed and cases go to court. If this man is strong enough and he gets enough staff to assist him to run the Authority, he will be able to stop most of these issues which end up in Parliament. He will stop the misuse of funds which is taking place. In my view, this is the best thing that has happened to this country. This job is very critical for this country. I hope this man will move with speed to set out branches or county offices. This is because more money will go to the counties. The persons need to be educated on how they are going to do their procurement. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, sometimes, hon. Members do not want to talk about procurement. However, for this nation to move forward, save money and get value for money, we need people who are more qualified on procurement. We need people who will safeguard the interest of the public in terms of procurement. I hope as he is confirmed, he will move with speed to restructure the Authority and to set up county offices. He should be able to know what Ministries are doing. He should not sit and wait for complaints alone. This is because sometimes when people have complained and tenders have been awarded, it becomes a legal issue. Sometimes, people may be punished for not following the right rules. I hope as he is confirmed on his job, he will be able to set officers in Government Ministries. I hope he is going to be pro-active in his approach and take time so that staff can be trained. Overall, we should all be aware on what needs to be done on procurement. I hope he is going to work because I have my own reservations. Last time, we were discussing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he wrote letters. He advised the Ministry but he did nothing. He, however, had the authority to stop the procurement of those premises but he did not do that. I give him the benefit of doubt; he was not substantive on the post. Now, he has been confirmed on the job. If Parliament approves his name, I hope he will live to the expectations of the country. He is going to save this country money if he works according to the way the Act is framed. The Act is very clear on how he should do his job. The Act gives him authority. He is an appointee of Parliament. He has not been appointed by the Executive. His name has been vetted. It has been brought here and Parliament is going to appoint him. I beg to support his appointment and I trust he will live to the expectations of the office."
}