Why County Procurement Must Be Decentralised to Ward Level for Transparency

Editor's note: In this compelling article, Billy Mijungu calls for the urgent decentralisation of county procurement at the ward level, emphasising the need for public involvement in overseeing development projects. Drawing attention to the entrenched corruption in centralised systems, Mijungu advocates for community ownership and accountability as keys to ensuring transparency and delivering tangible progress to local populations.

Enough is enough. A small, powerful elite, sitting in offices far from the projects they claim to deliver, has captured procurement in our counties.

They sign papers, award tenders, and move money in boardrooms, while the people who are meant to benefit from these projects are left in the dark. We must put an end to this. Procurement must be unbundled to the ward level and opened to the people.

Here is the truth: all development happens in a ward. Even the State House is in a ward. Every road, every clinic, every water borehole, every school is rooted in a local community. If the work is done in a ward, it should be procured in that ward. The County Treasury building should not be the location of procurement. The procurement process should not take place in the Governor's office.

Read also

Ground the greed: Why public officers should stop flying at taxpayer expense

Centralised procurement is the breeding ground of corruption. It is where contracts are inflated beyond reason, ghost projects are born, and a handful of connected individuals eat. At the same time, the rest of the community is left with half-finished structures and promises that never materialise.

This is why it is a fortress of secrecy. The public is not involved in decision-making, and the disappearance of funds is permanent.

Community ownership is key

We must turn the tables. Imagine a system where no contractor is paid until the people themselves confirm that the work is complete and meets the agreed standard. Imagine residents, local leaders, and community representatives inspecting every project before the cheque is signed. That is how you keep thieves out of public funds. That is how you ensure value for every shilling.

This is not just about transparency. It is about ownership. When people know a project is theirs, they protect it, they push for its completion, and they hold those responsible to account.

Read also

Mwenda Thuranira: Why Kenya is ripe for a government-backed property index

When procurement is left in the hands of distant offices, the only people with a stake in it are the ones signing the contracts and cashing the cheques.

The call for legislative action

The Senate must act. It must pass a law dismantling the central control of County spending entities and returning power to the people. This law should make it mandatory for procurement to be handled where the project will be implemented. It should give the public a binding role in approving payments. Without this legal backbone, the cartels will not let go of their grip.

Opponents of this idea will claim that decentralisation will slow things down. That is a lie. Centralisation has not sped anything up. What it has done is speed up theft. It has created layers of bureaucracy that hide corruption and delay real progress. Public procurement is the single largest pipeline of government money. When a few control it, it becomes a feeding trough for the corrupt. When the community watches over it, it becomes a tool for real change.

Read also

How to start a clearing and forwarding company in Kenya

This is a fight for accountability. A fight for fairness. A fight to make sure that development is not a speech in the County Assembly but a road you can walk on, a clinic you can visit, a school where your children learn.

The fortress of secrecy must be brought down. Procurement must return to the people. Ward-level procurement, anchored in law and guarded by public representatives, is not a radical dream. It is the only way to ensure that every coin meant for development does what it is meant to do: transform lives.

The author is Billy Mijungu, a governance and public policy advocate focused on transparency, community empowerment, and fighting corruption in local government systems.

Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke