Nyeri County Government has scaled up training of vulnerable groups with the aim of increasing their prospects of securing government tenders and contracts through the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO).
The training is targeting youth below the age of 35 years, women especially an estimated 65,000 widows residing in the county and Persons with Disability who will be equipped with skills to take up government contracts at both national and county levels.
Launched in 2016, AGPO is an affirmative action program targeting vulnerable groups. Under the policy, both the national government and the devolved units are required to reserve 30 per cent of all jobs and tenders for youth, PWD and women-owned enterprises. According to the Deputy Governor, Warui Kinaniri, the training will also encourage the participation of the groups to bid for government tenders and contracts, which he noted was at an all-time low due to lack of awareness.
“We want our people to take an interest in these opportunities. I have noticed that there is a negative mentality among Nyeri residents that Government tenders are reserved for a few people. The county government recently advertised tenders worth Sh 3 billion and when we evaluated the bidders, we realized that there was no participation from the youth, women and PWD yet these opportunities have been reserved for you,” noted the DG.
The training sessions will be conducted in all eight sub-counties by the County Department of Gender, Youth, Sports and Social Services.
The County Executive in charge of the Department, Esther Ndung’u, said that the training curriculum has been tailored to accommodate both business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.
She said that during the training, participants will be taken through the business registration process, financial literacy and how to register a business for AGPO. She said that her department will also create awareness and provide instructions on the procedure to be followed when creating, managing, and utilizing Local Purchase Orders within their business.
Ms Ndung’u also encouraged the participants to visit the County Government website for updates on available tenders and other empowerment opportunities in order to uplift their lives.
“We are urging them to be proactive in tracking how and where tenders are advertised and to maintain up to-date documentation so that they can participate and not allow these opportunities to slip through their fingers,” she said.
By Wangari Mwangi
