Mandera County Governor Mohamed Khalif appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget on Tuesday to respond to queries raised by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) concerning procurement records for the financial years 2023 to 2025.
During the session, Governor Khalif told the committee that the county did not undertake any direct procurements, contract variations, or contract terminations within the period under review.
He argued that the absence of such entries in the system should not be interpreted as non-compliance, but rather as a reflection of the county’s procurement activity during that time.
The committee also examined challenges experienced during the rollout of the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP), with the county citing initial system downtime and network connectivity issues.
However, the PPRA maintained that the platform remains the official national system used by more than 32,000 procuring entities across the country.
Chaired by Senator Ali Roba, the committee emphasized the importance of strengthening communication between county governments and regulatory agencies.
Vice Chairperson Tabitha Mutinda, who presided over parts of the session, urged the county’s technical team to respond promptly to official correspondence and ensure timely data submission to avoid gaps in compliance reporting.
Senators further noted that the objective of the oversight process was not punitive, but to enhance transparency and accountability in public procurement systems. They stressed the need for accurate and continuous data entry into national systems to ensure proper record-keeping and audit readiness.
The committee directed Mandera County to reconcile its records and upload all outstanding procurement reports for the affected financial years onto the PPIP platform.
In response, the county government committed to introducing stronger internal compliance mechanisms, including a procurement reporting checklist for every tender process and regular capacity-building sessions for staff involved in procurement.