Cash crunch hits counties as e-procurement system implementation falters
The e-GP rollout, launched last month, requires all county and national budgets to be uploaded before procurement can proceed.
Counties and national government departments are facing a major funding bottleneck after delays in implementing the new electronic public procurement system.
With just a month left in the first quarter of the financial year, projects remain unfunded, leaving many entities only able to meet payroll obligations while other procurement activities grind to a halt.
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The National Treasury reported that no county budgets had been uploaded to the e-GP platform as of yesterday, though uploads for State departments were underway.
The e-GP rollout, launched last month, requires all county and national budgets to be uploaded before procurement can proceed.
Treasury CS John Mbadi said that procurement cannot start until budgets are uploaded on the Integrated Financial Information Management System (Ifmis) and transferred to the e-GP portal.
“Budgets for procuring entities using Ifmis as their financial management system must be uploaded in the e-GP system before preparation of the annual procurement plan and subsequent initiation of the procurement process,” Mbadi explained, as reported by Business Daily.
So far, only 31 counties have successfully uploaded their budgets to Ifmis after approval by the Controller of Budget, with just four ready for transfer to the e-GP.
The delays are expected to hold back projects, office supplies, and other procurement, potentially affecting the day-to-day operations of counties and State agencies.
“So, the tendering process begins after the procurement plans are prepared in the e-GP. There's no way you can start the tendering process without the procurement plan in the e-GP,” Mbadi emphasised.
Treasury estimates that about Sh1 trillion of government spending this fiscal year is procurement-based.
With roughly Sh250 billion of first-quarter funds still unspent, entities face the challenge of executing these budgets in the remaining weeks to the end of September.
CS Mbadi added that the Treasury has started uploading State department budgets, expecting them to be ready today, while counties will only have their budgets ready by Monday.
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