By Staff Writer | Wajir Today | Friday, June 5, 2026
The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget has stepped in to resolve a procurement compliance dispute between the County Government of Wajir and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), following concerns over delays in uploading procurement records to the national transparency system.
During a committee session held on Thursday, Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said his administration remained committed to transparency, explaining that technical challenges had hindered the uploading of the 2022/2023 procurement plan to the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP). He said the county nevertheless submitted the documents manually to the regulator via email.
The governor told the committee, chaired by Mandera Senator Ali Roba, that procurement records for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 financial years had since been successfully uploaded, with 763 tenders currently published on the system.
He added that the county had strictly relied on open tendering and requests for quotations, with no recorded contract variations or terminations during the period under review.
On a separate issue, Governor Abdullahi addressed concerns over delayed payments for the construction of an X-ray unit at TB Manyata health facility, attributing the backlog to a large stock of inherited pending bills.
He said the county had been undertaking systematic verification of historical claims before payment.
“Our inherited pending bill problem is quite unique among the 47 counties,” Abdullahi said. “We inherited incomplete records, where it was not even possible to establish the actual figure of genuine pending bills. We resorted to verification before payment and we have been addressing these obligations on a first-in, first-out basis.”
Members of the Finance Committee emphasised the importance of completing the medical facility, citing Kenya’s high tuberculosis burden, and noted that the reporting gaps appeared to stem from administrative and documentation challenges rather than financial misconduct.
They further observed that uploading procurement records was a routine administrative requirement that could be resolved through closer coordination between institutions, without unnecessary disruptions or travel burdens on county officials.
Senator Ali Roba directed the Wajir County executive to ensure that all manually submitted 2022/2023 procurement records are uploaded onto the digital portal to guarantee permanent public access.
“Just have your team upload the documents. It is important for you, actually more than anybody else, because complaints can come after you’ve left office,” Roba said.
The committee also urged the PPRA to strengthen communication channels with county governments, including the use of official email systems, to prevent delays or loss of correspondence.
The lawmakers said improved digital record-keeping would enhance accountability, safeguard public resources, and protect officials through clear audit trails.
