New Categorization by Treasury to Ease Tender Allocation

In an effort to curb bias in the awarding of state jobs to youth and women in government tenders, the Treasury has discontinued the previous categorization of enterprises.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said in a circular to all state departments that the enterprises will henceforth be registered under the schemes of Youth, Women and Persons with Disabilities.

The certificates have been issued under five broad categories since 2013 when the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) program was formed. They are General Supplies, Fresh Produce and Agricultural Produce, Professional Services and Consultancy, ICT services and Small works and Engineering.

“In order to ensure that these categorizations (ambiguous) do not hinder the participation of AGPO registered firms in tenders and in order to increase the uptake of the 30 percent procurement reservation, enterprises will now be registered under the schemes of Youth, Women and Persons with Disabilities only,” said Mr. Rotich.

“The AGPO certificates will no longer have a specific categorization as has been the case.”

The Cabinet Secretary, in the circular distributed to the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, all Cabinet Secretaries, Attorney General, Auditor General, and the chief executive of the Council of Governors, directed that it should be enforced by all accounting officers.

“It has been observed that these categorizations have hindered the registered enterprises from taking full advantage of tendering opportunities which do not fall under their registered category but which they have the capacity to undertake successfully,” said Mr. Rotich.

“This has, in turn, hampered the uptake of the 30 percent procurement reservation in some procuring entities.”

President Kenyatta has promised to implement the reservation of 30 percent of government tenders for the youth and women. This is with the aim of encouraging job and wealth creation.

He also added that the current procurement rules would be revised to help the youth currently locked out of public contracts due to lack of funding to compete with established firms.

Should the 30 percent provision be upheld, the youth will be able to benefit from procurement opportunities worth Sh300 billion.

In the last four years, 45,045 public tenders have been allocated to local businesses as shown by data from the Treasury.