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Kenya to carry out reforms to curb graft in public expenditure: official

Xinhua, November 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya will carry out reforms in public procurement in order to curb corruption in government expenditure, a senior official said on Friday.

Cabinet Secretary in the National Treasury Henry Rotich told journalists in Nairobi that public procurement accounts for 70 percent of all corruptions cases in the country.

"We are therefore fast tracking reforms in public procurement systems in order to fight graft," Rotich said during a stakeholders' validation workshop on Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2016.

Rotich said that the reforms will ensure that Kenya gets value for money for all public procurement. "Government is committed to ensure accountability, transparency as well as the effective and efficient application and utilization of public resources," he added.

The reforms will be implemented through the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2016. The CS said that the Public procurement regulations will be in place by end of the year.

Rotich noted that stakeholders are currently developing draft regulations that will presented to Cabinet for approval.

"Thereafter it will be presented to parliament for debate and we hope they will be endorsed before the end of 2016," he added.

The regulations are meant to operationalize the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act that become effective early this year. In April, the government set up a multi-sectoral taskforce to develop the procurement regulations.

The regulations will govern how procurement occurs when Kenya signs a bilateral or multi-lateral loan agreement.

It will also ensure that at least 40 percent of goods and services are procured locally as well as develop a plan for transfer of technology.

According to the National Treasury, the new regulations will also set out a standardized public procurement and asset disposal management system for use in government.

Other reforms to be introduced include a capacity building levy of 0.01 percent payable for all contracts to supply government valued at 100,000 U.S. dollars and above. Endit