Kenya introduces e-purchasing system to state-owned firms

Kenya's National Treasury said Friday that it has rolled out electronic purchasing and payment system to state-owned corporations on a pilot basis to help strengthen their efficiency and transparency.

The National Treasury will deploy teams to the 19 state-owned corporations to help them operate the e-purchasing system at the initial phase, said Jerome Ochieng, Director of Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) which runs the system.

The system is expected to streamline procurement within the public sector and save on taxpayer money, Ochieng said, adding that establishment of the system in the 19 firms will be completed by the end of June.

He said the National Treasury will bear the cost of deploying the IFMIS e-purchasing system and training personnel from state- owned companies on the use of it, while the companies will bear the maintenance costs.

An earlier official survey by the government found that half of the state-owned companies are still using manual and labor intensive purchasing methods which are time consuming and prone to manipulation.

Thirty percent of the state-owned firms have partially automated procurement systems while 14 percent have fully automated their procurement process, the survey showed.

Last August, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta required that all state-owned corporations and public universities purchase their goods and services electronically, which aims to curb incidences of corruption. Endi