Counties put on the spot over procurement laws

Garissa Governor Ali Korane. His county is among those fingered over procurement laws.

County governments continue to flout procurement rules leading to loss of billions of shillings in devolution funds.

The devolved units have been in the news after a report by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) painted a gloomy picture of their performance.

For instance, the report looking into counties’ procurement processes between June 2018 and March 2019 found West Pokot, Kitui, Kajiado and Elgeyo Marakwet to have flouted the laws.

Also indicted were Garissa, Machakos, Tharaka Nithi, Marsabit, Siaya and Tana River counties that were mentioned for contravening the set regulations.

In the affected counties, procurement records were missing and contracts awarded were concealed from the public.

Also, procurement plans were not submitted by the concerned entities, said PPRA Chief Executive Officer Mr Andrew Musangi.

“Out of the 30 compliance assessments undertaken for counties, none was fully compliant,” Musangi said of the findings.

The widespread violation of tender rules in county and national governments has been one of the major missing links in the ongoing purge on corruption.

So common are such contraventions of the laws that a look at the Auditor General Edward Ouko’s recent reports gives a clear picture of malpractices in the devolved units.

Road project

In Garissa, for example, auditors have queried incomplete works in the county headquarters beautification where a construction company was awarded a tender to conduct road beautification yet physical verification indicated anomalies.

The report further cited incomplete maintenance of Balambala-Denyere road where the expenditure of Sh26 million could not be ascertained.

The same trend is seen in other counties but all is not lost as PPRA report ranked Narok County as one of the best in adherence to the law with a score of 80.3 per cent with Mombasa and Kwale coming second and third respectively.

Further, Meru, Nyamira, Samburu, Bomet and Kericho were raked as having 65 per cent rating.