Mandera Governor defends procurement records amid Senate scrutiny

Mandera Governor Mohamed Khalif has defended his administration before the Senate Finance and Budget Committee over procurement reporting gaps flagged by the Procurement Regulatory Authority, insisting the missing records were linked to procurement activities that never took place rather than failure to comply with the law.

Khalif appeared before the committee on Tuesday to respond to concerns raised in a letter from the Procurement Regulatory Authority covering the 2023 to 2025 financial years.

During the session, the governor explained that Mandera County did not undertake any direct procurements, contract variations, or contract terminations during the period under review.

He maintained that the absence of records under those categories should not be interpreted as non-compliance, but rather as proof that such activities were not carried out.

The county government also acknowledged experiencing system downtime and local network challenges during the rollout of the Public Procurement Information Portal, which affected reporting at the initial stages.

However, the Procurement Regulatory Authority told the committee that the Public Procurement Information Portal remains the official reporting platform for more than 32,000 procuring entities across Kenya and stressed the importance of timely submission and updating of procurement records.

The committee, chaired by Senator Ali Roba, focused its deliberations on improving communication between public institutions and ensuring government agencies respond to regulatory correspondence within the required timelines.

Vice Chairperson Tabitha Mutinda, who presided over the session, reminded Mandera County officials that prompt responses to official communication are necessary in protecting the transparency and credibility of public systems.

Committee members also urged the county’s financial and procurement teams to take a more proactive role in handling institutional audits, noting that strong compliance ratings can only be achieved through regular data updates and timely feedback to regulators.

Senators said the objective of the oversight meeting was not to punish the county government, but to strengthen accountability measures and ensure procurement records are safely stored within the national portal for future reference.

As part of the resolutions reached during the meeting, the Senate Finance Committee directed Mandera County to reconcile and upload all pending output reports for the affected financial years onto the Public Procurement Information Portal.

In response, the county government committed to putting in place an internal compliance monitoring system to improve procurement reporting and oversight.

The county also pledged to introduce a procurement reporting checklist to be completed at the end of every tender process and to carry out internal training sessions aimed at strengthening staff capacity on procurement reporting requirements.

To conclude the review, the committee directed both Mandera County and the Procurement Regulatory Authority to submit joint evidence of previous correspondence to help senators verify communication timelines before finalizing and tabling their report before the House.