One of the five (5) pillars of Public Procurement is Transparency which requires that: – Public sector entities should ensure sufficient and relevant information is made available to all interested parties consistently and in a timely manner through a readily accessible, widely available medium at no or reasonable cost.

In a previous article, we looked at Why Open Tenders are highly popular in Kenya. This requirement provides the explanation as to why that is the case especially for tenders that do not have an allocated minimum and or maximum level of expenditure other than what is determined by the funds available under the budget.

Therefore, to create awareness about tenders that are active, each procuring entity must publish a tender notice and have it circulated and advertised in a wide range of print and electronic media. Legally, bidders have 14 days to either purchase the tender documents from the procuring entity or download them from an official website.

What the regulation says about advertising tenders

The specific form of advertisement used will depend on the size and complexity of the goods, works or services being procured. But generally, bid opportunities are advertised in a wide range of media including the following:

• Notices may be placed on the various notice boards of Ministries, Parastatals, other procuring entities and the provincial administration such as chiefs, Divisional Officers, District and Provincial Commissioners;
• Electronic media such as radio and television;
• Newspapers and other print media (both local and international);
• Individual Public Procuring entities’ websites; and
• The special website for tender opportunities that was set up by PPRA at www.tenders.go.ke 

Content of the advertisements

The content of an advertisement varies depending to what is being procured and the method of procurement. The final information should be useful and give bidders a level playing field.

According to the regulations and guidelines from Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), a typical advertisement needs the following information:

• Scope of works. This includes a brief description of the work, service and/or goods required;
• Basic requirements for qualification;
• Arrangements for collecting documents, including any payment required; and
• Time and place of submission of tender or quotation. This requirement is always fully observed, as any late submission gets disqualified.

How to find such opportunities

Most Government tenders are open tenders which provide a good opportunity for your business to get accustomed to the public procurement process. On any given day, we provide hundreds of open tender opportunities available that you can freely access on Scale.

Check them out and apply for those that suit your business starting today. Do share with us your experience in the comment section below.

This article is part of the Public Procurement Guidelines for Bidders series