WILL THE YOUTH ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT - YAGPO, INITIATIVE BE A FAILURE AFTER ALL? Youths, Women and Persons with Disability in Kenya have very high hopes in Jubilee Administration to deliver its promise to create employment and empower them economically. I must congratulate Sakaja Johnson for his great efforts for ensuring a 30% rule on government tenders is anchored in our laws. Kudos. However, going by experience i witnessed last week, this dream by the Jubilee Government for these special group in the country may not be realised soon. There is a group of public servants who would want the status quo on government procurements to remain the same. Where only the fat pockets could supply the government with goods and services while prices quoted are tripple the market prices, hence stealing from the public. I am waiting for the report on how many youths have been awarded government tenders. The obvious answer Kenyans will get is that less than 2% of government tenders have been awarded to these special groups. Reasons that will accompany this answer is that these special groups did not rise up to the occassion and tendered, hence procurement was done from other sources. Why didnt the youth tender? This is because for example, some government institutions have advertised for tenders but efforts are put in place to discourage the youths from tendering. I witnessed at DoD youths were locked outside the gate for over 6 hours before you are let in to purchase the tender document. While allowed in, you wait for another couple of hours before the the accountant notifys everyone in the queu that his time to go home has come and that come the following day. At the reception waiting to purchase the tender document, a person who never queud both outside and at he reception heads directly to the accountant with a list, and allowed to purchase over 20 documents while over 20 youths are waiting at the reception. This is the only person who purchased the tender documents for the whole period the youths have been camping at the DoD reception before the accountant takes his jacket and leaves behind the bunch of youths at the reception to sort themselves. Its 5:00pm and only 6 people including the guy with the list have managed to buy tender documents. Efforts to take photos of corrupt activities are limited by the Order of No Photography at a Military Camp. At the recepiton, a group of youths who had purchased the tender documents for the last two days have come back with tender documents full of errors that could lead to disqaulification, for those errors to be corrected. They are told to wait in the queu. They are not lucky as the accountant also left without the errors being corrected. Could the errors have been put there by design? Could the frustrations be a new way of locking up and discouraging the youths from tendering? Why cant these tender documents be downloaded from the internet? How do you expect a youth from Turkana, travel all the way from Turkana to come purchase the Tender document in Nairobi, for him/her to be frustrated and kept for days before purchasing the tender document? I appeal to the president Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy William Samoei Ruto to sort this mess otherwise their dream is being killed by corrupt individuals in the public sector. cc: The National Alliance Party, United Republican Party (URP), Dennis Itumbi, ALL Kenyans.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 08:31:58 +0000
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