Reports emerging from Kwale County indicate that over 100 tenders have been hurriedly released for the second quarter of the financial year, a move that has prompted allegations of corruption, manipulation, and insider collusion, particularly as the National Treasury prepares to roll out the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) platform, which is expected to limit the discretion previously available to officials in manually handled contracts and tighten overall transparency.
Insiders Cry Foul
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Finance Bakari Hassan Sebe and Chief Officer for Finance Alex Onduko have been singled out by insiders as central figures in what critics describe as a calculated procurement frenzy, with allegations that Onduko has collaborated with his alleged fiancée on county contracts.
At the same time, he and Sebe, who reportedly had a strained working relationship in the past, have now allegedly aligned to manage tender allocations in a manner that some sources claim involves demanding kickbacks of up to 20 percent of contract values from prospective contractors, a strategy that has provoked alarm among Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) who fear public resources may be diverted for private gain.
“We are alarmed by the speed and secrecy surrounding these tenders, and it appears designed to drain public funds before e-GP takes effect,” said one MCA, who requested anonymity, adding that the magnitude and pace of the procurement surge suggest a deliberate attempt to exploit the remaining window of manual tendering before the fully digital system restricts such maneuvering.
Targeting Somali Suppliers
Allegations have also surfaced that suppliers of Somali origin are being disproportionately targeted, subjected to inflated demands, and told explicitly that they will not receive contracts unless they make payments beyond official requirements, a practice described by one contractor familiar with the process as both discriminatory and exploitative, further illustrating the climate of intimidation that some local businesses are reportedly encountering in the county.
Fear of e-GP Transparency
The upcoming e-GP platform, which will manage all tender processes digitally from advertisement to award, is widely believed to be the catalyst behind the procurement rush, with sources indicating that some senior county officers are concerned that once the platform is operational, ongoing irregularities and informal arrangements may be exposed, effectively curbing avenues for inflated awards, and creating an urgency that critics argue is intended to complete as many deals as possible before oversight becomes stricter.
Governor Achani Under Pressure
Governor Fatima Achani now finds herself under intensifying pressure to provide explanations regarding the speed and scope of the tenders and the alleged role of her finance officials, as MCAs reportedly prepare to summon both Sebe and Onduko to account for tenders that have allegedly been misclassified as emergency projects to bypass established procedures, an approach that has amplified calls for accountability in the county and provoked public debate about the integrity of local procurement processes.
Audit and Oversight Demand
Civil society groups and watchdog organizations across the Coast region have also called on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Office of the Auditor-General to intervene, warning that the continuation of such practices could result in the loss of billions of shillings in public funds, and stressing that the e-GP platform was designed to prevent these kinds of abuses, with governance activists asserting that no county should become a personal financial resource for a handful of officials while transparency and public oversight remain weak.
As the rollout of national e-procurement approaches, the ongoing saga in Kwale may serve as a litmus test for how local governments respond to increased digital transparency, and whether oversight institutions will act decisively to curb opportunistic exploitation before the new framework fully takes hold.
