Makueni, Hivos sign MoU to check corruption in the County

Makueni has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hivos international to adopt Open contracting and tame corruption in the county’s procurement processes.

Hivos is a humanitarian organization advocating for social justice through creative solutions to persistent global problems.

The MoU was signed by Makueni Governor Prof  Kivutha Kibwana, who was accompanied by County Secretary Paul Wasanga and Hivos East African regional director Ms Mendi Njonjo at Wote, Makueni,  Monday evening.

The MoU establishes a collaborative framework between the two organizations with a view to developing a viable programme taking a multifaceted approach in improving the quality of procurement processes for transparency and eradication of corruption.

Hivos, as part of the MoU,  will assist the county government in capacity building on the open contracting approaches, principles and the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) for designated officers and departments as well as Makueni Project Management Committees.

Ms Njonjo said this approach will assist Makueni in detecting fraud and corruption risks in public procurement while also entrenching fairer competition and a level playing ground for businesses.

Prof Kibwana hailed the open contracting system of procurement as the solution to the endemic corruption plaguing the country. He said the President and the national government should see it as a necessity to adopt this system as an antidote to corruption.

“There should be no secrecy on the expenditure of public money. Public procurement should be like an open shop where all that you sell is on open display,” said Prof Kibwana.

The governor lamented that some people were starting to feel threatened by the open and transparent governance his administration has adopted but said such people will have no place in Makueni.

“Some people think we’re too open that it is starting to threaten their dealings. It is time we all stood by President Uhuru Kenyatta and in one accord declare that Kenya and corruption cannot live together, one has to give way to the other, and that is corruption giving way to Kenya,” he said.

Prof Kibwana said the open contracting  procurement system will outlive his administration in post 2022 as it would be presented to the assembly for ratification and anyone trying to reverse it would face the wrath of the public.

“As the governor, I will be more unrelenting in overseeing operationalisation of this MoU because it will bear fruits even long after my exit. No one will be able to undo the gains then,” Prof Kibwana said.