By Reporter
The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget has granted the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) seven days to cross-verify all procurement documentation submitted by Homa Bay County on the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP) and submit a final feedback report to the committee.
The directive follows submissions made during a deliberative session with Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga regarding compliance and procurement queries raised by the authority.
Directing the regulatory body to cross-check the submitted records against the online portal, the Committee Chairperson, Sen. Ali Roba, emphasised the need for verification before the committee can issue further directions.
“We will not accept the face value of the submission without getting PPRA, getting to the portal, cross-verify the information provided by the county government versus what is uploaded, and whether the queries you raise to the committee have been satisfactorily addressed… You have seven days to review what has been submitted by Homa Bay County and share your response,” directed the Committee Chairperson.
During the meeting, the Homa Bay County Executive presented evidence confirming that procurement records and Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) reports have been duly uploaded to the portal.
Governor Wanga affirmed the county’s commitment to constitutional transparency and strict adherence to procurement laws.
“As a county, we are committed to complying with the law, with the constitution, with the transparency and accountability requirements, and we are always available to make responses to PPRA. We do hope that as we move into the future, Homa Bay will not be one of the counties highlighted as not having complied with any of the requirements of PPRA,” stated Governor Gladys Wanga.
The Committee Vice-Chairperson, Sen. Tabitha Mutinda, noted that the issues raised were primarily administrative and stemmed from communication delays between technical officers and the regulatory body.
“Governor Wanga, you need not to be here. We should not just sit here because the people in the office administratively are not able to do what they’re supposed to do on time. If you had submitted all these documents to PPRA, they would not have come to us,” expressed Sen. Mutinda.
Addressing an active court case referenced by PPRA regarding non-payment under contract HBC/TRD/003/912303/2021/2022, Governor Wanga explained that the pending bill underwent an extensive review process before the vendor instituted legal proceedings.
“The contractor took the county government to court to demand their payment of the balances which were not yet paid… The reason being that being a pending bill, it took a while when we were doing our review and reconciliation… but the contractor became impatient and went to court to pursue his rights,” the county boss explained to the committee.
With the county reporting over 95% compliance on procurement rules, the Senate Finance Committee now awaits the verified review from PPRA to determine further guidance.
