Treasury to use digital platform for procurement

Treasury will migrate procurement of goods and services to the digital platform from July this year in order to exploit the advantages offered by the Integrated Financial Information Management System (IFMIS).

The migration is supposed to take place as part of the public financial management (PFM) reforms that the Treasury has been carrying out for the past few years.

IFMIS allows automation and integration of various state and county government PFM systems to ensure efficient execution of financial management processes.

“The automation of public procurement through IFMIS… is at an advanced stage… A fully automated procurement system will be rolled out to MDAs [ministries, departments and agencies] and counties by July this year,” said Treasury secretary Henry Rotich last Friday.

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich launched the new IFMIS Strategic Plan and website last Friday in Nairobi.

The IFMIS ‘Plan to Budget’ component was used to develop the revised budget for 2012/2013 and the annual budget 2013/2014.

“The system has made the planning and budgeting process more efficient,” said Mr Rotich.

The cabinet secretary admitted there had been challenges in the past in operationalising IFMIS but said he expected the re-engineered system to work better.

The Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo has stated in the latest reports on the budget implementation that some ministries, departments and agencies as well as some county governments have not used the system as expected.

For inexplicable reasons, some of the state organs have avoided keying in data into the system despite Treasury’s incessant efforts urging them to do so.

“In order to guarantee transparent financial management and standard financial reporting as contemplated by Article 226 of the Constitution, the National Treasury should ensure that all MDAs use the prescribed IFMIS,” said Ms Odhiambo.