President Uhuru Kenyatta with Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich
and Deputy President William Ruto at KICC on 13th of August,2014 during
the launch IFMIS e-procurement system. Government says at least Sh205
billion worth of contact are up for grabs, but decry the lack interest
and awareness from the youth
PHOTO | EVANS HABIL
When former president Mwai Kibaki announced in 2012 that 10 per
cent of the value of all government contracts should be allocated to the
youth, Francis Mureithi, a Nairobi-based businessman moved with speed
to
exploit the opportunity.
exploit the opportunity.
The policy directive of Mr Kibaki’s government was aimed at tackling spiralling levels of youth unemployment in Kenya.
In
a company he had formed with a friend, Mr Mureithi applied for a tender
to supply attire to be used by government officials at a national
event. The deal earned himself over Sh300,000.
Later,
last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that procurement rules
should be amended to apportion 30 per cent of government contracts to
the youth, women and persons with disabilities (PWDs) without
competition from international firms.
TRAINING THE YOUTH
Government
says at least Sh205 billion worth of contact are up for grabs, but
decry the lack interest and awareness from the youth for the
disappointing no show in tendering for the contracts.
A spot check by Money,
however, shows that many young people are not taking advantage of the
opportunities created by the new government directive largely because of
inadequate information and lack of patience to walk through the
tendering red tape.
Mr Mureithi
partly puts the blame to the poor documentation and quotation by
youth-run enterprises when applying for the contracts. He says that a
lot of youth do not stick within stipulated price guides of specific
contracts. They either over-price or grossly undercharge the government.
This makes them ineligible.
This has, however, changed with the new government imitative to conduct tendering through online platforms.
This allows everyone to get access of government tenders irrespective of their location in the country.
The government’s financial platform, Integrated Financial Management Information System, (IFMIS) has made this process easy.
And
with implementation of electronic procurement program, the IFMIS has
made it possible for the applicant to apply tender online and track the
process, a strategy that is injecting transparency.
IFMIS
has thus become a source of information to the suppliers and the public
in general on matters relating to public procurement.
“What
we have decided now is to offer training to the youth to enable them to
be entrepreneurs,” National Association of Youth Enterprises chairman,
Mr Brian Randieh said.
The Public
Procurement Directorate, which is under the National Treasury,
administers the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO).
TARGET GROUP
In
order to access government procurement opportunities, the youth, must
register a business enterprise as a sole proprietorship, partnership, a
limited company or a co-operative.
At
least 70 per cent of the membership of the registered entities must
comprise of the youth and the outfits’ leadership must be 100 per cent
youth, women and PWDS.
A PIN and tax compliance or tax exemption certificate from the Kenya Revenue Authority is also required.
The
target group should also acquire requisite certifications from
professional bodies and authorities such as the National Construction
Authority, Insurance Regulatory Authority, Institute of Certified Public
Accountants of Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya, the National Council
for Persons with Disability, the National Environmental Management
Authority, the Energy Regulatory Commission and all other authorised
bodies.
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