Are you interested in partnering with us to ensure societies are more open, inclusive and empowered? Do you want to contribute to the development of a model County Guide on Proactive Disclosure of Emergency Procurement? Hivos is seeking a consultant (individual or organization) to develop this guide.

Region: East Africa
Office: Nairobi
What: EoI for consultancy to develop a model county guide on proactive disclosure of emergency procurement
Application deadline: 15 May 2023
Type of Consultancy: Short term
Budget Amount: Euro 4,500

About the Openness 4 Covid 19 Response and Recovery project

Public contracting and procurement is a key driver for public service delivery to citizens and a market opportunity for entrepreneurs at the sub-national, national and international levels. Public contracting involves the full chain of government deal making, from procurement of goods and services for citizens to the disposal of state assets. It covers not only the awarding of contracts, but also planning, tendering, contract negotiation, implementation and performance monitoring and termination. It is estimated that over 70% of government expenditures are managed through public contracts

However, in Kenya and across the globe, public contracting especially during emergencies remains an opaque government activity most vulnerable to wastefulness, mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption. There is also a lack of adequate controls and therefore consequent mismanagement is commonplace. Beneficial ownership is also a major element of business registration, public contracting and procurement that requires compliance. A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls an entity and transactions are made on their behalf, or they exercise ultimate effective control over a legal entity. Beneficial owners largely remain veiled in public contracting transactions mainly accessible to government officials through requests to Business Registry services that is largely internal phasing at the moment and in need of further alignment to the global open ownership principles.

Emergency procurement for Covid 19 Response and Recovery

Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Kenyan government has implemented drastic measures to protect citizens at risk and limit the economic consequences of the pandemic. Stimulus and safety net packages have been allocated, intended to reach citizens and businesses in need. The government continues to plan and allocate significant resources to fund Covid-19 response and recovery. Against this backdrop, there is mounting evidence that the health emergency and subsequent rapid responses have created opportunities for violations of the principles of public finance management, seriously weakening the effectiveness of government action. Of concern is evidence from the Auditor General Special Audit Report for KEMSA and the Controller of Budget Special Budget Review report which shows serious integrity challenges in public procurement occurring during the current crisis. The reports highlights instances of procurement fraud, overpricing key medication and healthcare items by suppliers, subversion of the procurement and public financial management regulations. Equally, a study by Open Contracting Partnership on better emergency procurement further found that the country’s has a weak enforcement and oversight of procurement protocols and controls, there is limited publication of procurement data, lacked effective mechanism of public participation in the management of Covid-19 emergency relief fund and that the procurement system is not yet aligned with global standards, values and principles of open contracting.

In addition, as the government transitions from addressing the immediate crisis to focusing on economic recovery, these challenges may continue to rise and undermine recovery efforts. It is therefore imperative that fundamental safeguards of public integrity, transparency and public accountability are not weakened or disregarded in both the immediate response as well as the longer-term recovery from Covid-19. Therefore, the need to develop a model guide on Emergency procurement and Proactive Disclosure taking into consideration the Emergency / Disaster Acts enacted by County Governments and national legal framework as well as better approaches practices and instruments from other jurisdictions.

Objective of the consultancy

To develop a model county guide on proactive disclosure of emergency procurement to strengthen and compliment the policy and practice on proactive disclosure and emergency procurement at the county level.

Deliverables of the consultancy

1. Inception report informed by virtual meetings and physical engagements with the relevant independent /oversight institutions, national and county government officials as well as representatives of citizens’ organizations at the national and county levels for the purpose of detailing the assignment and work plan in an inception report.
2. A review report analyzing relevant national and county laws, regulations and circulars pertaining to procurement, access to information, disclosure of information, public participation and redress/accountability mechanisms for emergencies. The analysis should consider proactive and reactive procurement data publication, the legal framework supporting or prohibiting publication of specific data categories in the entire public procurement cycle. The consultant should also review legislation to understand data collection and reporting requirements such as but not limited to; information county procuring entities are required to collect, what information they are required to submit to the National Treasury, Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, Business Registry Services and information suppliers must provide.
3. A first draft of the model County Guide on Proactive Disclosure of Emergency Procurement with relevant schedules if appropriate.
4. A second draft of the model County Guide on Proactive Disclosure of Emergency Procurement with relevant schedules if appropriate.
5. An online and/or offline validation workshop on the second draft of the model County Guide on Proactive Disclosure of Emergency Procurement with relevant schedules if appropriate.
6. A report on the validation workshop
7. A final draft of the model County Guide on Proactive Disclosure of Emergency Procurement with relevant schedules if appropriate.

Contract award

The award and management of the contract will be by Hivos.

Your profile

1. A certified legal drafter or demonstrated commensurate drafting experience
2. Demonstrated drafting experience in the areas of access to information, public procurement, open data or any area of open government
3. Good working knowledge of Kenyan laws and the devolved structure
4. Flexible working hours
5. Available in the proposed consultancy period
6. A demonstrated understanding of open budgeting, Open Contracting and Beneficial ownership principles and approaches with the open governance framework
7. Fluent in written and spoken English and Kiswahili

Duration of the consultancy

The consultancy shall be implemented for a maximum of 15 days over a period of 2 months i.e 1 June 2023 to 31 July 2023. The consultancy shall be subject to withholding tax of 5% and within Hivos consultancy rates.

How to apply

Your application should have the following:

1. An expression of interest demonstrating why yourself or your organization is the right fit for this consultancy
2. A profile of your organization or yourself
3. A technical proposal detailing a plan of action, approach and methodology, timelines aligned to deliverables
4. A financial proposal detailing a breakdown of costs and inclusive of required taxation or your agreement on tax exemption from the respective state agency.
5. Relevant weblinks to and /or at least 2 samples of similar work to support your expression of interest.

Please send these documents by 15 May 2023 at 17:00 Kenyan Time. Applications after this date will not be considered. Please note that canvasing will lead to disqualification from the bid.

Send your application to  eastafricainfo@hivos.org  with the reference  O4C19- Model Guide on Procurement Disclosure of Emergency procurement Consultancy  in the subject heading.