Furniture makers set for gains in tender law review
Victoria Furnitures: The government plans to relax procurement rules for Kenyan furniture dealers. Photo/FREDRICK ONYANGO
The government plans to relax procurement rules for Kenyan furniture dealers, offering hope to thousands of small and medium entrepreneurs that they will sell their products to parastatals.
Local suppliers will no longer be required to submit a three-year bank statement, tax compliance certificates, company name, names of directors and a record showing that they have been doing business with the government for a long period.
The policy exemptions are expected to speed up a presidential directive issued last year requiring all public offices to buy locally-made furniture.
The Ministry of Industrialisation has named a task force to ensure flexibility in the Procurement Act 2005 and include changes to accommodate local manufacturers who have been locked out to the advantage of imports.
“Even though local manufacturers expected the presidential directive to be implemented immediately, key policy changes must be made in the existing law,” said Mr Hezekiah Okeyo, the acting director industrial information and policy development at the Ministry of Industrialisation.
Kenyan furniture makers have been losing business to imports from mostly Asia despite offering lower prices due to lack of capital to grow businesses and expertise to make quality products.
“The biggest threat is lack of capital, followed by lack of capacity, equipment and facilities to ensure timely delivery of quality products,” Mr Okeyo said.
Officials at the Ministry of Industrialisation said a survey carried out late last year showed a number of the SMEs meet the quality and quantity requirements, but the policy conditions spelt out in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005 locked them out of the supply tenders.
The task force is expected to analyse the existing law and regulations, including the proposed Public Procurement and Disposal Regulations 2011 and recommend appropriate categorisation and specifications of furniture for all classes and levels of public offices.
They will be required to recommend the eligibility criteria for the target groups of manufacturers to supply the appropriate furniture category.
The move is also expected to encourage the graduation of SMEs into more productive enterprises by boosting quality and output.
The Industrialisation ministry task force is expected to complete the job by June this year.
