Cartels lock out women from lucrative tenders, CS admits

Youth Public Service and Gender CS Sicily Kariuki during an interview with the standard at her office on 12/5/16-BEVERLYNE MUSILI

Corrupt Government officials are locking out women from accessing their 30 per cent share of State contracts.

This has seen women entrepreneurs access about 10 per cent of Government tenders, despite continued campaigns from the Kenya Private Sector Association (Kepsa) and ministries such as Public Service, Youth and Gender to increase the current low uptake.

However, Public Service, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said the Government will ensure the Procurement Act is amended to remove bottlenecks that impede women entrepreneurs from accessing tenders.

“We are aware of procurement officers who are quick to ask for a bribe when women want to get State contracts,” Ms Kariuki said while presiding at the launch of the Global Women Summit yesterday at a Nairobi hotel.

She said the amendment will see women deal directly with Principal Secretaries when looking for tenders in State agencies. “The brokers in government corridors will be a thing of the past,” assured Ms Kariuki.

The summit is meant to empower women entrepreneurs, and is being facilitated by Kepsa in partnership with SheCares International.

Kariuki was also adamant that apart from procurement, women are being locked out of other important sectors such as agriculture.

She cited a report by the Department for International Development (DFID) that indicates total agricultural output in Africa could increase by 20 per cent if women’s access to agricultural input was equal to men.

“It also shows that women-owned businesses account for over 48 per cent of all SMEs, contributing about 20 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while an estimated 85 of women-owned businesses are in the informal business sector,” said the CS.

The CS called on the private sector to help the Government provide funding for women enterprises, saying the State alone cannot fulfill the need for loans.

“We have invested Sh320 million in the Women Enterprise Fund. Through this funding, we have reached one million women countrywide. This is not enough and we would like to ask financial institutions to come in and bolster the funding,” she said.

Again, according to CS Kariuki, the Uwezo Fund has reached 846,949 individuals through 55,244 registered groups, disbursing Sh560 million.

Kepsa’s Chief Executive Officer Carole Kariuki called for sound micro-economic policies that are targeted at women if their inclusion to the country’s economic agenda is to improve.

She emphasized that access to means of production such as credit, technology and information was crucial for women to get empowered. Women entrepreneurs would also not only get access to government resources such as credit and procurement contracts, but also access to markets to improve their businesses.

Kepsa CEO said her organisation will track how women are taking advantage of opportunities in the market as it pressures industry players to accommodate them more.