Cabinet orders women suppliers, youths, persons with disability paid

The forming of a joint venture between the government and De La Rue Currency and security printing company was also approved at Thursday’s meeting/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 29 – The Cabinet on Thursday directed that all payments due to government suppliers – with preference to women, youth and persons with disabilities – be made without further delay.

Under Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO), 30 percent of government tenders should, as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013, go to the three special interest groups.

“I don’t see the reason why we can keep purchasing things from outside when we have them here. I know most have done so which encourages corruption. We must support our local SMEs,” he said last year when he called on women to be more aggressive in ‘chasing’ the tenders given the still few number of women who’ve taken advantage of the edge he gave them.

READ: Seek more tenders, Uhuru urges women

At Cabinet’s Thursday sitting, it was also resolved that the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government and all law enforcement agencies should prosecute all those who’ve invaded private ranches and farms in Laikipia, Kilifi and other parts of the country.

The forming of a joint venture between the government and De La Rue Currency and security printing company was also approved at Thursday’s meeting.

“Under the new arrangement, a special purpose vehicle will be formed through which the Government will acquire a 40 percent shareholding in De La Rue Kenya Ltd. This will enable the government to earn revenue from the venture.”

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

See author's posts