Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has directed all state departments to fully adopt the new e-procurement system, warning that no procurement will proceed unless compliance is achieved.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday, August 28, Mbadi said all departments have until next week to transition to the digital platform.
"For clarity, no procurement can be done before the budget is uploaded into the system. By next week all state departments must be in the system so that the procurement process can commence," he stated.
Mbadi further noted that the government has already rolled out extensive training to ensure smooth implementation across all levels.
"The compliance level of the e-government procurement is very high. We have trained all state departments; we have trained all public finance management officers in all counties. We are at the moment training through webinars 5000 more officers in the entire government system," he added.
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Mbadi explained that the new platform is designed to enhance transparency and accountability in government spending by covering the entire procurement cycle.
"This new e-procurement system is end to end; it starts from budgeting to the payment stage. In the current system, once the national budget is uploaded on IFMIS, the rest of the procurement is manual. The new system will help curb issues that arise during awarding of tenders," he remarked.
Mbadi further highlighted the security features built into the digital framework, saying they will make it impossible to alter documents once uploaded.
"All the information that will be required for the tender will be uploaded to the system. The way the system is designed, it is designed in such a way that you cannot delete a document, you cannot amend.
"If you go through the system and it reaches a point and you have made mistakes, you will have to reject the whole transaction and start a fresh. Those are the security features we are putting here. That is why many people are finding it discomforting," he further said.
This comes a day after Mbadi dismissed claims that Parliament has the authority to revoke the e-Procurement system.
Speaking on Thursday, August 28, Mbadi said the assertions are misleading and warned government officers against using them as an excuse to disregard the system
"One of the contention currently being pushed is that Parliament has revoked eProcurement. If there is any government officer out there who is going to use that as an excuse please know I will not buy it. Parliament has not revoked anything," he said.
Mbadi noted that those opposing e-Procurement are seeking loopholes for manipulation, questioning why there is no opposition to the accounting system, the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS).
"We are implementing IFMIS an accounting system, why hasn't it been revoked? It is because people have interest in procurement; they still want to go manual and manipulate procurement and that is not what we are going to allow," he added.
Mbadi asserting that the National Treasury is the sole custodian of the country’s financial management systems unless Cabinet decides otherwise.
"How Parliament can turn around and claim that eProcurement is violating the constitution, where is that provision with a constitution? That is not a violation; the constitution is clear that accounting and procurement systems is a function of National Treasury and that is still there position until the Cabinet revokes," he further said.
