From left: Lawyer Mohammed Nyaoga, Justice Richard Mwongo, Deputy Head of Mission at the Germany Embassy Friedo Sieleman, and Chairman of the Public Procurement Oversight Authority Mwaniki Gachoka hold copies of the procument report at Hilton Hotel Tuesday. [PHOTO: Tabitha otwori/STANDARD]

By RAWLINGS OTIENO

There must be a credible system to deal effectively with grievances by losers of the procurement process in the bidding competition, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has said.

Mutunga said that the Procurement law recognises the importance of a credible mechanism to adjudicate on all procurement disputes between procuring entities and aggrieved bidders.

“By its very nature, procurement is an activity that consumes over 60 per cent of the public budget and the competition is fierce. There must be a credible procurement system in place to deal with the arising disputes,” said Mutunga.

In a speech read on his behalf by High Court Judge Richard Muongo, the CJ reiterated that the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board (PPARB) had speedily reviewed the cases filed by the bidders who felt the process was flawed.

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Justice Muongo made the remarks during the official launch of the Public Procurement Decision Digest at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday.

Mutunga noted that a survey conducted by the board showed that 68 per cent of bidders indicated their confidence in the way the board has carried out its mandate.

According to the same survey, 33 per cent of the procuring entities indicated that they were satisfied with the work of the board.

He recommended that judges, members of the bar, procuring entities and business enterprises should seek to understand how the procurement system works so that they can participate in it more effectively.

 “The Digest offers an important teaching tool as they will no longer need to rely only on the Act and the Regulations as the primary resource for instruction.

 “The Digest provides them with an opportunity to use the case method as the most effective means of teaching public procurement,” added Mutunga.