WE SHALL ALL AGE (POEM)

Author, 25 years

The rose is beautiful, but it quickly fades, 

The violet is fair in spring but quickly grows out of date,
The lily is white but fades when it droops;
The snow is white but melts,
beauty is the bloom of youth,
But lasts only for a short time.

With age it fades, even the models will age,

Reality check…

We shall all age.

Some say beauty doesn’t exist,

Saying it lies in the eyes of the beholder,

Or perhaps in the beheld, who cares?

As Lupita says, you cannot eat beauty

Beauty does not feed you she says,

beauty dies and fades away,

inner beauty always blossoms,

can you look within?

We shall all age.

You may be beauteous, but time will cause you to fade,

Your pointed boobs will in no time sag

Your beautiful skin shall quickly wrinkle

Your beautiful eyes  will lose vision

Your Sexiness will wear thin after a while

Your pretty face shall in a short time age,

Many people had great beauty at birth, 

But, little or none when they left this earth, 

Like time, it slowly passes away, Until there was little, or none one day.

Inner beauty, which the eyes can’t see, will always stay

Indeed beauty fades, but dumb is forever,

We shall all age.

Don’t waste time on beauty coz it shall fade

Dot waste time on beauty, for its in the eyes of the beholder they say

Live right. Be a  brand,

Live a life of honour, glory and greatness,

Study child! Study!!! 

Knowledge, intellect, wisdom and success I assure you shall never fade

Beauty fades with age, inner character however shines forever.

Beauty is but skin deep I insist,

And the painful reality,

WE MUST ALL AGE.

C. Timna (2016)

ANALYSIS OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AND ASSET DISPOSAL ACT, 2015

INTRODUCTION

Public procurement is an important function of government and forms the largest domestic market in many countries. If well managed the public procurement system can contribute to a countries economic development by maximizing economy and efficiency. The law governing procurement in Kenya is the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015(hereinafter referred to as the Act) which repealed the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005(hereinafter referred to as the old act).

The following constitutional provision informed the need for a repeal of the old act;

Article 227 of the Constitution, which provides the procedures for efficient public procurement and assets disposal by public entities. Article 227 (2) further provides that, an Act of Parliament (the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act) shall provide a framework within which policies relating to procurement and asset disposal shall be implemented.

 

The public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015 gives effect to the aforementioned article on efficiency and defines the roles of regulatory bodies. Specifically, it requires that any state organ or public entity contracting for goods or services must do so within a system that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective.

 

The new public procurement law is meant to comply with the citizens needs and aspirations, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and international best procurement standards.

 

 

 

 

SALIENT REFORMS

the reforms that have been brought by the new act include inter alia:

1.    The Act provides guiding principles for public procurement and asset disposal for state organs and public entities. The principles are based on values and principles of the Constitution.   these guiding principles were not provided for in the old act.

 

2.      The National Treasury established under section 11 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 is given a Role by the new act in public procurement and assets disposal. The Act provides under section 11 that the National Treasury shall be responsible for public procurement and asset disposal policy formulation.

 

The role of the National treasury in public procurement and asset disposal was not provided for in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005

 

3.      The Act establishes the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority under section 8(1) of the Act to among other functions, monitor, assess and review the public procurement asset disposal system to ensure they respect the national values and other provisions including Article 227 of the Constitution on Public Procurement. This in essence transforms the Public procurement oversight authority from an oversight authority to a regulatory authority as a distinct regulator of procurement related matters within the public sector with a governing board whose mandate would be to oversee prudent procurement practices with the Director General of the Authority to undertake executive role.

 

Any undertaking or responsibility that fell on the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) in the old act is now assumed by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA)

4.      The Act establishes the Public Procurement Regulatory Board established under section 10 of the Act.

 

 

5.      Old procurement act provided for a tender committee under section 26(4) which provides;

“A public entity shall establish a tender committee, procurement unit and such other bodies as are required under the regulations for the purpose of making such decisions on behalf of the public entity as are specified in this Act and the regulations.

 

Tender committee is not provided for in the new act.

6.      Part 9 of the Act provides an elaborate array of procurement methods over and above the three methods prescribed under the old Act to include; open tender, two stage tendering, Design competition,  Restricted tendering,  Direct procurements, Requests for quotations, Electronic reverse auction, Low value procurement,Force account,   Competitive negotiations, Requests for proposals and, Framework agreements

7.      Section 33 provides for county government responsibilities with respect to public procurement and asset disposal. The said section provides as hereunder;

“(1) A County Treasury shall be the organ responsible for the implementation of public procurement and asset disposal policy in the county.

(2) Without prejudice to the general provisions of sub- section (1), the County Treasury shall establish a procurement function which shall —

(a) implement public procurement and asset disposal procedures;

(b) coordinate administration of procurement and asset disposal contracts;

(c) coordinate consultations with county stakeholders of the public procurement and asset

disposal system in liaison with the National Treasury and the Authority;

(d) advise the accounting officers of county government entities on public procurement and asset disposal matters;

(e) co-ordinate county government monitoring and evaluation of the supply chain function of co government entities including ensuring compliance;

(f) promote preference and reservations schemes for small and micro enterprises and other disadvantaged groups, citizen contractors, women, youth, persons with disabilities,

minorities and marginalized groups in public procurement at the county;

(g) promote preference and reservation schemes for residents of the county to ensure a minimum of twenty percent in public procurement at the county;

(h) administer the scheme of service for county government procurement and supply chain management officers and capacity building;

 

 

8. the Act has introduced an internal appellate system under the Administrative Review Board under the Authority.

9. The Act has sought to streamline the appointment process for board members (overall and Administrative Review Board), the Director General with clear tenures

The provisions on county government responsibilities with respect to public procurement and asset disposal did not exist in the old act.

 

 

CONCLUSION

The Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015 was enacted, ostensibly to give effect to the Constitution of Kenya, and to provide for stronger institutions and procedures in the public procurement sector.

 

 

WILL THE HIGH PRIESTS OF GREED SUPPORT NAMWAMBA’S MOTION?

Pigs lick blood outside parliament in Kenya (14th May 2013)

It is very crystal clear like the biblical ‘Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin’… it is audible to the deaf and visible to the blind, that our greedy MPs popularly known as “MPIGS” will pooh-pooh the ambitious motion filed by Budalangi MP Hon Ababu Namwamba, seeking to reduce salaries of public officers. We need to feed ourselves before feeding the nation has been the modus operendi of our Members of parliament and other public officers….Leaders in name only. This gap must be closed. I dare them to prove to the people that they are not as avaricious as we have always known them to be by supporting the bill.

If the motion by Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba is passed by the national assembly, the President, Deputy President, Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries, MPs, senators, governors and their deputies, the two speakers of Parliament and the clerks of the houses will immediately have their basic salaries slashed by 50%.

The motion also pursues other drastic austerity measures including reduction of the number of counties and constituencies to cut down on the bloated figure of elected representatives drawing hefty perks. Indeed the motion is good and should be supported by every compos mentis or otherwise reasonable Homo sapiens. Somebody needs to explain to jubilee folks and any other legislator who may want to oppose the motion why this motion is of national interest, why they should rise above party parochialism and support it. I beseech the lawmakers not joke with the future of Kenya. The soaring wage bill must be tamed. I support the motion.

 

TANA RIVER COUNTY: “THE KING’S ARBITRARY DISPOTISM”

Essential liberty is being eroded simply because “some people” want to show us who is boss. And guess who the sacrificial lamb is? It is none other than Kwaraa recently referred to as Mandela. Accused 6 days ago for “undermining a public officer” which public officer? Who is the complainant(s)? Who are the witness? What evidence do they have against him? A case of intimidation? Most probably.





This is how shameless and “Principled” our “bosses” are and because the matter herein is a case without a complainant, you can take this to the bank dear “bosses”, you may kill the messenger but not the message. Your subtle approach has failed. We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced.





I put it to you that the confluence of the rivers of dictatorship from the heart of the “bosses” drowns any gain principle they purport to hold. However, I will leave that to the court of public opinion to judge… As for the most of our analphabetic police officers, they might not do much to protect Tanarians when it comes to security but they do a great job of intimidating innocent citizens.









Anyway, this fascist bullying must stop. Free Mandela Now.

TANA RIVER COUNTY: WE ARE YET TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF DEVOLUTION

The members of the Facebook group "Tana River County Kenya" have seen unpleasant posts directed against the governor and his counterparts….and despite the preponderance of despicability, not all are a vile. As much as I castigate the insults fashioned against the government officials of Tana River County, I congratulate positive or otherwise constructive criticism fashioned against these leaders in equal measure.

I will not waste my energy asking what the governor and his counterparts have done in terms of development for this county so far, because it is an undisputed fact that nothing much has been done. Since the Governor assumed power in 2013 we have not seen any commendable developments in the county. We did not have to wait for the World Bank report for us to know that our leaders have failed us, no, we have seen for ourselves.

H.E. Amb. Hussein Dado – Governor
County Government of Tana River

The County Government of Tana River is fashioned on omnipotent and imperious executive, sycophantic county assembly, timid opposition and subjugated people. These tyrannical regimes are premised on the four pillars of endemic corruption, lamentable incompetence, gross violation of human rights and negative ethnicity. Yet this problem of incompetence and failure to perform to the people’s expectations is vile, nauseating and perilous.  Resultantly, this has triggered the long quest by the people for positive change in the county.

This impotence in leadership has resulted in loss of public faith and confidence. Regardless, we the people of Tana River County are still hopeful that positive change will be realized in Tana River County in the near future. We are always praying and hoping for better days. But every day we crawl out of bed into reality that our government has not done much… and then worries start to add on…did we vote in the wrong leaders? Regrets are quickly replaced with fear, fear of the unknown.

Did we elect the wrong leaders or did we elect the right leaders who have deliberately failed, ignored and/or refused to deliver to the people’s expectations? Do we have a chance to redeem ourselves? Phalms 30:5(b) provides and I quote verbatim “Weeping may tarry all night, but joy comes in the morning” Yes, we keep falling but never defeated to rise again, come 2017 come, we the people shall elect performers and not people who have been vomiting on our shoes by sustaining the eating culture. The main duty of elected leaders is representation…we voted them in to represent the people and not their stomachs!!!

The executive arm of the government is composed of non-performers, egotistical, callous and incompetent leaders. However, the leaders of Tana River have two years to redeem their legacy. In the meantime, the people of Tana should remember that some of the people who vie for elective posts are good, some are bad and some are truly dreadful. Choose wisely come 2017…not on the basis of gender, or religion or tribe but on the basis of capabilities. I digress!!!

2 Corinthians 4: 17 “for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal joy that far outweighs them all”

Freedom is coming tomorrow.