NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Tuesday ordered the Public Procurement Oversight Authority to start publishing public tenders.
Speaking during the 3rd Annual Public Service Week, he said public tenders should be awarded transparently and competitively as a way of fighting corruption and tribalism in the public sector.
“We have directed the Authority to begin monthly publication of all public tenders with details of tender, sums, winners of tenders and details of delayed projects including names of contractors and cost over runs,” he said.
The Premier said any public servants involved in corrupt deals or who are incompetent will have to lose their jobs.
Mr Odinga further advised the public to play its part by refusing to offer bribes as well as reporting corrupt public servants to the relevant authorities.
He issued a stern warning to public servants and asked them to stop and avoid corruption at all costs.
“Public servants who frequent the altar of corruption and incompetence will have to look for jobs elsewhere. Any police or public officer who asks for a bribe is the enemy of the government and the economy,” he said.
With the hope of reducing graft, he urged government offices to adopt online services to create efficiency and openness within their offices as well as to the public.
The Premier further urged them to ensure proper regional representation of all communities in public offices.
“We are focusing seriously on issues of tribalism and nepotism in government. They are the new monsters we have to deal with in public service. We are keen to create a government that all Kenyan communities feel they are part of,” he said.
Mr Odinga appealed to government officers to conduct open and competitive hiring without favouring tribes or relatives.
Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno also emphasised on the need for the public sector to observe gender parity.
He asked poor performing ministries and those leading in corruption indexes to up their games to achieve better grades in their performance contracts.
The Public Service Week, which is marked in all the eight provinces, is a government initiative that allows ministries, government departments and agencies to display their products and services to members of the public.
In Nairobi, different government offices exhibited their products and services at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, most of which focused on the theme of modernising the public service towards realising Vision 2030.
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