Procurement officers have received appreciation from Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who stated that most of them are honest, hardworking professionals who should be treated with respect.
Speaking at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa at the Second Procurement and Supply Chain Dialogue, Mr. Gachagua urged Kenyans to refrain from disparaging supply chain experts in a general way.
“There are many serious professionals in the procurement and supply chain sector. There are also a few rogue officers who are corrupt in tendering processes. Let people be called by name for what they are. Targeting of all procurement officers for condemnation is unfair and needs to stop,” the Deputy President said.
Like other aspects of our society, the profession is not perfect, and like any other, there are rotten apples among its ranks—five percent.
But he urged procurement officials to uphold the dignity of their profession by identifying and dealing with the bad apples in their ranks.
Concerning corruption, which keeps worthy Kenyans from doing business with the government, Mr. Gachagua recommended that investigative authorities bring in supply chain and procurement specialists to help combat corruption.
“I want to ask investigation agencies to recruit procurement professionals to help investigate cases of corruption. Some police officers are clueless; they have no idea of what they are looking for,” he said adding that without the requisite expertise, corruption cases flop and taxpayer’s money is lost.
He pushed for more efforts to eradicate corruption from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and other organizations.
“We cannot keep complaining that we lose billions of shillings to corruption. The Government has allocated tax-payer resources to institutions to root out this vice. We have the capacity to implement fool-proof systems. We have adequate laws and we are ready to strengthen them where there are gaps,” Mr Gachagua said.
The Deputy President added that while he supports the use of technological means to increase procurement transparency, hustlers would also benefit from these kinds of systems.
“We cannot have an inclusive Supply Chain that does not value Integrity. We cannot have an inclusive Supply Chain that does not regard transparency and non-interference. The Supply Chain Sector has the key to birthing the next generation of millionaires from the bottom,” he said.
Mr. Gachagua advocated for equitable consideration for the benefit of individuals at the bottom of the socioeconomic pyramid, while simultaneously urging financial institutions to help women, the youth, and vulnerable groups. He said that the Hustler Fund had assisted in closing the money deficit.
“Financial inclusion will make sense if we actualise the tendering processes to also favour upcoming enterprises, which may not have a rich track record. Women, the youth and people living with disabilities must benefit in a big way if we are to uplift the hustler to the high table,” the Deputy President said.
The Deputy President stated that the supply chain directly lowers production costs, which contributes to socioeconomic transformation. However, he added that the lengthy and bureaucratic process of obtaining and supplying agricultural inputs pushes costs down onto farmers and other low-income consumers.
