The government plans to roll out a national electronic procurement system starting July as authorities move to curb fraud and inflated costs in public contracting.

On Friday last week, President william Ruto said the e-procurement platform will automate all stages of government procurement to enhance transparency and accountability. The initiative is poised to replace decentralised manual processes with a centralized online platform.

"We must know which company won each tender, at what price, and how many bidders participated, all on a publicly accessible platform," Ruto said at the closing of the Third National Executive Cabinet Retreat in Kajiado County.

At the weekend, authorities in Dr. Ruto's administration said these planned changes in State procurement are irreversible. The President warned that "officials implicated in procurement fraud will face personal liability."

Additionally, he criticized systemic conflicts of interest, saying "public servants must stop prioritizing personal gain over fair service delivery."

Complementary measures include establishing a Single Treasury Account to centralize all government funds, transitioning from cash-based to accrual accounting standards, and implementing zero-based budgeting.

"These integrated reforms will end the wastage and misappropriation draining public resources," Ruto said.

In April this year, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi launched Kenya’s e-Government Procurement (e-GP) system, noting that the initiative seeks to deliver roughly 80 per cent of public services online.

“The National Treasury had made significant progress in the development and piloting of the system, and that all Ministries, Departments, Agencies and County Governments (MDACs) will be required to onboard the platform starting April 2025,” Mbadi stated.

“During the launch, I highlighted that public procurement accounts for 60 percent of Kenya’s annual budget. According to the World Bank’s 2020 Public Expenditure Review, the country stands to save over KES85.9 billion annually — equivalent to 0.9 percent of GDP — by improving procurement efficiency through the e-GP platform. The money, which can be redirected to critical services for wananchi.”

The platform has been integrated with other State-backed systems to check fraud such as the Kenya Revenue Authority’s iTax, IFMIS, the Business Registration Service, and the Integrated Population Registration System as part of a wider plan to smoothen compliance.

“I sent a warning to the departmental accounting and procurement officers that resistance to the e-GP reforms will not be tolerated, since the future has gone digital, and the time to embrace it is now,” Mbadi stated.

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