President Freezes all New Government Projects: Who’s Been Hit?

By Virginia Nyambura

President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued a directive to halt all new government projects until ongoing ones are completed.

The directive, according to President Uhuru, aimed at curbing wastage of resources and the habitual trend of government agencies abandoning projects incompletely and introducing new ones.

Issued to government accounting officers, the directive, warned that they would be held responsible if they sanctioned new projects without the direct authority of the National Treasury.

The President said this at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) Nairobi where he addressed government accounting officers that included principal secretaries, parastatal heads, public university vice-chancellors and State corporations heads.

Projects aligned to the Big Four Project were however exempted from the freeze on condition that they get written authorization from the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary or Permanent Secretary.

President Kenyatta also announced that the government was working on launching a new internet portal where all procurements, tenders, and contracts would be announced so as to create transparency and safeguard public resources from theft.

The President noted that the portal would help bring accountability since Kenyans would view the process followed in the procurement and awarding of tenders. He further reminded the officers that they were to be guardians of public resources as expected by Kenyans adding that the renewed war against corruption would continue and those within the law had nothing to fear.

“All procurement officers have been taken through the operations of the portal and they have given their feedback. The portal will be launched soon,” added the President.