YOUTH, WOMEN AND PWDs URGED TO APPLY FOR SUPPLY TENDERS
The youth, women and persons with disability have been urged to apply for supply tenders at the many available public Procurement Entities (PEs) especially in the county government.
The call was made during sensitization meeting held at Hotel Itoya by representatives from the Public Procurement Regulation Authority, State Department of Gender, National Treasury and Council of Governors.
This was an initiative aimed at accelerating the uptake of 30% public procurement preservation and reservation scheme for women, youth and persons living with disability.
Some of the benefits that are enjoyed in Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) by these vulnerable groups include easy access to funding, low interest loans and reduced bureaucratic processes during registration with procurement entities.
The performance security may be waived or fixed at not more than 1% of the contract price for some funding.
Among the challenges that emerged during the meeting were; low level of awareness among target groups, emergence of ‘tenderpreneurs’ who act as brokers and swindle a lot of money from unsuspecting suppliers, invasion of established firms which manage to take the large tenders due to their prominence and lastly the Procurement entities not reserving 30% as required by the law.
National Treasury representative Mr Bartholomew Kinoti noted the gravity of the challenges raised by the suppliers, noting that they are putting measures to help solve the challenges since most of them are common countrywide.
Some of the measures he stated were enhanced monitoring of the programme, training and capacity building of the target groups, enhancement of AGPO registration portal and engagement of stakeholders and development partners to support AGPO.
Mr Kinoti also added that they were planning to put up IFMIS desks at various Huduma centers to help local suppliers access the IFMIS services conveniently.
The audience were also taken through the procurement process by Mr Awuoth, which starts at supplier registration, advertisement of bids, choice of procurement methods, bid evaluation and then awarding of the tender.
The audience raised delayed payments for services rendered as a major concern. Limited access to information about government tenders particularly in the rural areas and lack of knowledge and practical skills in submitting winning tenders were some of other challenges raised.
Jane Kyengo from the State Department of Gender enlightened the vulnerable groups on LPO financing and urged them to embrace the Women Enterprise fund, Uwezo fund and Wezesha fund among many other funds provided by the department, citing that the funds will help them build themselves and help them compete effectively and secure tender opportunities.
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