Elgeyo Marakwet County has developed an open contracting portal in a bid to promote transparency and accountability in the public procurement process.
Speaking during the launch in his office, Governor Alex Tolgos said the portal will facilitate public oversight on the county’s projects undertaken in the past and those ongoing adding that data on future projects will also be updated on the site.
Noting that the county was the second to launch such a portal in Kenya after Makueni County, Tolgos said the county would continuously upload all procurement processes on the portal htttp://opencontracting.elgeyomarakwet.go.ke saying the portal will also be accessible through the county’s website.
He said the county will also be adhering to the presidential executive order on public entities to maintain and continuously update and publish procurement of public goods, works and services.
“We shall continuously publish all data using the open contracting data standard tools so that at a click of a button, any person can track our public procurement process,” said the Governor.
Tolgos said the portal is an important milestone in his government since 2016 to promote open governance after the county’s inclusion in the global Open Government Partnership (OGP).
“Under OGP, one of our main commitments was to promote transparency and I am glad that today, we are working towards achieving this goal,” he said.
The Governor said the portal seeks to help the county to achieve more efficient public procurement management and processes, smarter analysis and provide solutions to challenges in the supply chain management.
“It will also enhance public participation through providing mechanisms for oversight and feedback to the county’s procurement processes and project management,” he said.
The Governor noted that the portal will support service delivery of quality goods, works and services for the people of Elgeyo Marakwet since contractors and suppliers will be on the website, while also enabling the County government to get better value for money.
He added that it will also support fair competition and level the playing field for businesses while also aiding in detecting fraud and corruption risk in public procurement for necessary action.
Tolgos called upon stakeholders particularly citizens to make use of the portal and channel feedback that will help the county improve its procurement processes.
By Rennish Okong’o
