Online Listing of Public Tenders Increases Five-Fold

The worth of tenders published online increased five-fold in 2019/20 to stand at 1,338 contracts worth Sh52.43 billion compared to 379 tenders worth Sh7.72 billion that were awarded to qualified suppliers in the financial year 2018/19.

The online portal, which is in line with the State’s directive established July 2019, registered a 579 percent increase during the period under review.

Contracts awarded to businesses owned by women, youth and disabled persons under the Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) went up by 288 percent from 125 contracts whose value stood at Sh145 million issued in the financial year 208/19 to 482 AGPO contracts worth Sh590 million issued in the financial year 2019/20.

The directive to publish tenders online was given President Uhuru Kenya and it is aimed at allowing the public to scrutinize the deals, including the quality and amounts of goods and services bought as well as the cost, and identity of the suppliers.

However, several State agencies continue to defy the President’s order to publicly release details of the multi-billion shilling tenders through a designated public procurement website to curb grafs while a spot-check of the portal reveals that most agencies controlling multi-billion shilling State contracts are yet to publish online details of such tenders.

Mid-2018, Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua asked accounting officers in ministries, departments and agencies to consolidate and publish tenders information, on the 15th of every month adding that the information on the portal should include the basis of awarding the tenders, parameters of assessment, names and details of tender committee members as well as the value of each contract.