Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o has called on county governments to adopt the Electronic Government Procurement System (e-GPS) even as resistance mounts over its troubled rollout.
Speaking on Thursday, September 4, Nyakang’o admitted that the rollout of the digital procurement platform had not been properly managed, but insisted that counties must adapt rather than stall service delivery.
“We need eGPS, even though the change has not been managed properly and is going to create many problems,” Nyakang’o said. “No one is safe—not me, not the Auditor-General, not Parliament. But what must we do? We must make the best of a bad situation.”
The Controller of Budget used a homely cooking metaphor to drive her point home.
“If you are cooking and you only have five ingredients out of seven, do you stop so people go hungry because you lack a spice? No, you still make a bowl of soup so people don’t sleep hungry. Can we then make the best of a bad situation?”
Nyakang’o outlined the initial steps counties should take in implementing the new system. “The starting point to eGPS is to have a budget. Once it is on IFMIS, please register with the system and register the people who will operate it,” she advised.
Her remarks come amid a fierce pushback from county governors, who have demanded the suspension of the e-GPS rollout. On September 1, the Council of Governors (CoG) released a strongly worded statement warning that the system undermines the constitutional autonomy of counties, lacks a proper legal framework, and was introduced without adequate consultation.
The CoG further argued that only three counties participated in pilot testing, yet the system was imposed nationwide without resolving glaring flaws. Inadequate training and sensitization, they said, had already disrupted procurement operations across counties.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has defended the rollout, dismissing the opposition as a ploy by those clinging to manual procurement processes that, he suggested, are prone to irregularities.
The battle over e-GPS has set up a fresh confrontation between the National Treasury and the county governments. While governors demand suspension and consultation, Nyakang’o is pushing for pragmatism—insisting counties should make the most of the system, however imperfect, to keep service delivery on track.
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