Uhuru Kenyatta gives govt officials one-week ultimatum to adopt e-procurement

President Uhuru Kenyatta has given officials in charge of government agencies a one-week ultimatum to adopt e-procurement of tenders in order to curb corruption.

President Kenyatta on Wednesday reiterated last week’s directive to all government agencies to adopt the system to enhance transparency in how tenders are awarded.

“I am reminding government officials that they are left with one week and all those in charge of government agencies will be held personally responsible if they fail to adopt the e-procurement system,” he said.

The Head of State said the objective was to make government procurement processes open to scrutiny by the public so that everyone can know how a tender was awarded.

The President had last week directed cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and chief executives of parastatals to ensure all agencies under them have gone on the online platform within two weeks.

“Our objective is to ensure all procurements are made public for wananchi to see the transparency of the process,” the President said.

50PC OF ANNUAL BUDGET

Procurement of goods and services constitute about 50 per cent of the government’s annual budget and the e-procurement platform will save substantial financial resources and help in instilling confidence among taxpayers that they are getting value for their money

The system will strengthen the government-supplier relationship by providing easy access to information and documentation, simplify the bidding process and ensure cost saving for the Government and taxpayers.

President Kenyatta spoke when he launched an Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

The IPRS is a system that will create a single database on all people residing in Kenya to make it easier for service delivery and verification of identity to improve security.