NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 5 – The Senate Finance and Budget Committee has launched a probe into procurement irregularities in several county governments following concerns over persistent violations of public procurement laws.
The committee, chaired by Ali Roba, held a consultative meeting with the leadership of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to examine compliance levels among county executives.
During the meeting, senators raised concerns over lack of transparency in county operations and urged the authority to provide detailed and itemised reports on procurement breaches to enable the Senate to hold individual accounting officers accountable.
PPRA Director General Patrick Wanjuki told the committee that several counties, including Nairobi County, Isiolo County, Mandera County and Marsabit County, have shown a pattern of systemic non-compliance with procurement regulations.
According to the authority, common irregularities include failure to use standard tender documents, the use of non-objective evaluation criteria and failure to upload procurement proceedings to the mandatory Public Procurement Information Portal.
PPRA also warned that delayed payments to suppliers are having serious socio-economic impacts, noting that some county administrations have refused to settle obligations for goods and services procured by previous governments.
The regulator admitted it faces enforcement challenges due to what it described as impunity among some procuring entities, despite its mandate to monitor and audit procurement cycles.
It further clarified that advance payments in public procurement are capped at 20 percent and must be secured by bank guarantees rather than insurance.
The authority urged the Senate to strengthen oversight and enforcement to ensure county governments comply with procurement laws and protect public resources.
