New proposal to tame corrupt Government cartels

The Government has proposed a law to tighten the noose on corrupt contractors and their agents.

The legislation is also tailored to rein in Government entities that sign poorly negotiated contracts that end up costing the taxpayer billions of shillings.

The new proposals, if passed by Parliament, will make it more expensive to ask for ‘10 per cent’, a pseudonym for under-the-table deals, and compel contractors to return money paid should they be found to have made false declarations on their contract documents.

National and county government entities must consult the State Law Office before putting pen to paper, in effect slamming the brakes on Government entities that hurriedly sign local and international contracts without reading the fine print.

Under the proposed law, all national government contracts must have the Attorney General’s seal, and county governments will be in breach of the law if they sign contracts without clearance from their respective county attorneys.

“One of the outstanding conditions is that all contracts entered into by the national government or county government shall, subject to the pecuniary threshold, be cleared by the Attorney General or the county attorney, respectively, before they are signed,” reads the Bill.

It further states, “The object of this Act is to empower a contracting authority to enter into Government contracts for acquisition of works, goods and services in a manner that enhances access, competition and results in best value or, if appropriate the optimal balance of overall benefits to the Government and the public.”

The proposals are contained in the Government Contracts Bill, 2018 introduced in the National Assembly last week.

External loans

Experts have blamed lack of sound legal advice for many expensive and poorly negotiated external loans.

The culprits include county governments, which have been cited for billions of shillings owed to external and internal creditors.

“This Bill could be designed to rein in entities that have been getting into debt without sound legal advice. For county governments, the proposals are important because counties are not good at raising revenue. What is happening is that they are getting into debt and then relying on the national government to fund their budgets,” said development economist Anzese Were.