The National Assembly has annulled a circular requiring all procuring entities to conduct all tendering through the Electronic Government Procurement System (E-GPS).
On Tuesday, MPs unanimously endorsed a report of the Delegated Legislation Committee that recommended the annulment of the circular 04/2025 issued by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) on August 12.
This is after Tharaka MP Gitonga Murugara raised concern about the legality of the circular in the August house.
The committee established that the circular contravened various laws and the constitution for purporting to amend procurement laws usurping the powers of parliament.
Committee chairman Samuel Chepkonga said the circular made it mandatory for procurement entities to use the electronic system against Section 77 of the Public Procurement and Disposal act.
“The circular seeks to amend the law without involving parliament and without public participation. The circular outlaws the manual submission of tender documents and purports to impose punishment. They should have initiated the amendment of the law to allow the electronic system,” Chepkonga said.
He said restricting tendering process to the digital system would discriminate against Kenyans who do not have access to internet.
MP Junet Mohamed, while seconding the motion, said Parliament is the only institution that can make and amend the law.
“The circular by PPRA is null and void and should be ignored with the contempt it deserves. It is just a piece of paper. I urge members to pass the report as recommended so that Kenyans from all parts of the country can participate in tendering,” Junet said.
PPRA Director General Patrick Wanjuki noted that all government agencies were required to comply with e-procurement starting July 1 failure to which “any manual transaction shall be surcharged on the officer who authorized the transaction.”
Procuring entities were also directed to cease publishing new tender opportunities on the Public Procurement Information portal. The government, through the presidency and treasury has been keen on the enforcement of the e-GPS.
Treasury CS John Mbadi had earlier allocated Sh700 million for the roll out of the system, meant to seal corruption loopholes.
The rollout of the system follows President William Ruto’s directive in November 2024 that the government implements an e-procurement system immediately.
