Kenya Power affirmative action tenders hit Sh600m

KPLC Managing Director Joseph Siror addressing journalists. FILE PHOTO | BONFACE BOGITA | NMG   

By EDNA MWENDA More by this Author

Businesses owned by youth, women and people with disabilities more than doubled the value of deals with Kenya Power between July last year and February, as the tenders hit Sh600 million.

Kenya Power made the disclosures on Friday, saying that deals with the three groups of entrepreneurs grew 145 percent from Sh244 million in the same period a year earlier.

The State electricity distributor has allocated Sh1.8 billion in tenders to the three groups in the current financial year in line with the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) launched in 2013.

All State-owned entities are required to reserve up to 30 percent of their tenders to firms owned by youth, women and people with disabilities every financial year as a way of driving financial inclusion.

“The increased uptake of AGPO tenders is a result of the deliberate effort by the company to sensitise the target groups on the procurement opportunities that are available within the Company,” John Ngeno, General Manager, Supply Chain and Logistics at Kenya Power said.

AGPO was launched in October 2013 to help arrest the hurdles by firms run by the special groups face in accessing government contracts.

State contracts to the three groups hit Sh45.1 billion for the first time in the financial year to June 2023, highlighting the impact of the legal requirement. The average value of the tenders also grew from Sh952,251 in the year ended June 2019 to Sh1.193 million or an increase of 25 percent in the 2022/23 fiscal year.

But the three groups, like others doing business with the government, are grappling with delays in receiving payment for services rendered and goods supplied to the State entities.

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