Simon Gichuki, the National Secretary General of the Association of Public Sector General Suppliers, has defended the government’s push to roll out an electronic government procurement (e-GP) system, saying the move is legal, long overdue and aimed at improving efficiency and transparency in public purchasing.
Speaking in an interview on Radio Generation on Monday, Gichuki said existing laws already allow public procurement documents to be handled either physically or electronically.
“From where I sit now, the law talks about public procurement documentation. It doesn’t say it must be in one state. It could be physical or electronic,” he said.
He added that the shift to digital procurement is not new, noting that several state agencies had adopted electronic systems years ago without controversy.
“Before this system and before what is in Parliament, we already had parastatals using electronic means to prequalify suppliers. KRA, KPA, KenGen and KPLC they had electronic procurement. Did they go to Parliament?” he asked.
Gichuki emphasized that the e-GP system does not alter procurement rules, but simply changes how documents are submitted and managed.
“The e-GP is not changing the process for procurement. It is changing the form of documentation from physical to electronic, and now it’s making it centralized,” he said.
According to him, centralisation will save suppliers time and money while opening up opportunities across the country.
He explained that under the old system, suppliers often had to travel long distances just to follow procurement procedures.
“You will go in there and find a tender in Mandera for Mandera Central CDF. Traditionally, you would have had to fly to Mandera for tender opening, then fly back to Nairobi, then fly back again to do the work,” he said, adding that technology removes these unnecessary costs.
Gichuki argued that opposition to e-GP is largely coming from those who benefit from opaque systems. “Why are we saying technology is bad only because it is affecting the corrupt people?” he posed.
He maintained that digital systems make it harder to manipulate processes, saying, “Technology will never allow you to bypass processes, because all of us are uploading electronic documents, and that’s the only difference.”
He also noted that electronic registration and identification are already standard practice in international procurement.
“When you’re sending documents, they just ask you, ‘please quote your AGP Kenya number.’ They don’t even tell you to register,” he said, pointing out that similar systems are used globally.
Gichuki questioned why lawmakers are comfortable with other digital public services but critical of e-GP. “We don’t have a law that allows you to apply for a job through the Public Service Commission website, so why are you not complaining about that?” he asked.
He concluded that cleaning up public procurement is inevitable, arguing that in developing countries, the public sector is the biggest buyer and must therefore be the first place where transparency is enforced.
