Suchergebnisse

Kenya is one of the countries that are currently in the process of preparing a new law on government procurement as part of the anti-corruption efforts of a new democratically elected government which came into power in December 2002. Whereas it may be too early to judge the commitment of the new government to meaningful and consistent anti-corruption initiatives, one may already discern either a definite unwillingness to move forward with serious reforms or an implicit acquiescence towards corrupt practices, particularly in the government procurement process. In this paper, we shall examine Kenya's government procurement laws, and their practical application. We focus on two recent examples of the procurement process, one by a government ministry and the other by a parastatal body. The first example of application we shall look at is the controversy over the procurement of HIV-Aids testing equipment by the Ministry of Health, and the second is the procurement of cranes by the Kenya Ports Authority. We shall end with a brief examination of the proposed Public Procurement and Disposal Bill (2003)l which is currently before the Kenyan parliament and how it may revolutionalize the government procurement process in Kenya. This Bill has already received the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers and is due for the second reading in Parliament.2 Despite the Government having stated its commitment to have the bill enacted, the bill has not been passed yet.3 In the last substantive part of the paper, we assess the relevant international agreements and standards such as the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement and the WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement, and also highlight the regional procurement law.