Chapter 13: Procurement and Financial Management

Tanzania

The 2022 Population and Housing Census (PHC) required huge amounts of materials of different types to conduct the census successfully. Procurement of equipment and services were done according to government procedures. All procurements were authorised by the central census committee and national advisory committee.

Financial management was handled within the National Statistics Office (NSO) with the overarching government financial management guidelines. The government continued to pay salaries for all its officials who were engaged in the census operations throughout the implementation period.

Kenya

A procurement sub-committee was appointed one year before the census enumeration to handle all procurement activities. The team developed census procurement guidelines in conformity with the current country Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act (PPADA, 2015) and the relevant regulations, which provided procurement and financial flow guidelines on various aspects of the 2019 KPHC procurement process.

The open tendering method was the main procurement method used during acquisition of the census materials and equipment. Procurement plans were prepared before each financial year and had to be approved by the Board before execution. The process adhered to the detailed approved 2019 KPHC procurement plan. All procurements of goods, equipment, and services for the 2019 KPHC were centrally handled at the headquarters as detailed by the guidelines. However, in exceptional cases where the situation on the ground and logistical challenges dictated that a specific procurement could be undertaken at the County level. In such a scenario the procurement sub – committee advised accordingly to facilitate the activity and ensured that the process adheres to PPADA, 2015 guidelines. At the sub-national level, the county census committees and sub-county census committees were established to oversee implementation of the procurement activities especially acquisition of training facilities and storage facilities.

Synergy existed between different census committees (procurement and technology data management sub-committees) and the procurement division, and user directorates that facilitated the smooth running of the process. There was good communication between the procurement division and the user directorate on item specifications/Terms of reference (TORs) to ensure that any deviations were detected early, and action taken. The user directorate provided adequate specifications/Terms of reference (TORs)as per the requirements to procurement section which ensured timely procurement. Procurement sub-committee meetings appraised the members with census materials requests before they are forwarded to the Director General for approval.

The secretariat scheduled meetings frequently (fortnightly) where status reports were provided and this enhanced monitoring of the procurement progress. A special census procurement file was opened to check and monitor the status of procurement processes to enable proper documentation of all procurements.

Involvement and engagement of relevant stakeholders (Ministry of ICT and others) in the planning process especially in the acquisition of mobile devices addressed any possible challenges and risks that may hinder the performance of procurement activity. This minimised possible challenges and risks that might have hindered the performance of the procurement activity.

Disposal of mobile devices required data removal which consumed valuable time because they could not be disposed of with KNBS data.

A sub-committee of the census TWC was established to undertake financial management for the censuses. The committee was also charged with the responsibility of mobilizing resources from various stakeholders and development partners to support implementation of various census activities and processes. The mobilized resources, were 99% from the government and managed centrally. Regulations were developed which were shared with officers that were advanced some funds to manage the payments at County Levels. KNBS had a bank account dedicated to the census at the headquarters, through which all funds were made. At the subnational level (County) Census Bank Accounts were opened to manage payments at that level. All receipts were acknowledged through the official receipting system and payments were supported by fully authorised documentation. All funds allocated to the Counties were remitted to the County Accounts as AIE, regularly.

Several activities undertaken during the census process were facilitated through imp-rest advanced to members of staff. Funds approval was done in a hierarchical manner- the user requests were first approved by the Director General who forwarded the same to the Director, Corporate Services for processing. Payments that were made through the county census bank accounts included allowances (of ICT supervisors, content supervisors and enumerators, county census committee members, sub-county committee members, village elders, security personnel), payments for training venues and storage of various materials, transporting personnel and materials, among others.

After the Census was completed, approved accounting documents were forwarded back to the Finance office at Real Towers in Nairobi and to the County Accountants’ offices. These accounting documents consisted of signed payment schedules, attendance registers and meeting minutes to account for sitting allowances paid to sub-county committee members while planning for recruitment, undertaking shortlisting, interviews, and approving the list of successful candidates and contacting them.

The open tendering method was the main procurement method used during acquisition of the census materials and equipment. Procurement plans were prepared before each financial year and had to be approved by the board before execution. The process adhered to the detailed approved 2019 KPHC procurement plan. All procurements of goods, equipment, and services for the 2019 KPHC were centrally handled at the headquarters as detailed by the guidelines. However, in exceptional cases where the situation on the ground and logistical challenges dictated that a specific procurement could be undertaken at the county level. In such a scenario the procurement sub – committee advised accordingly to facilitate the activity and ensured that the process adheres to PPADA, 2015 guidelines. At the sub-national level, the county census committees and sub-county census committees were established to oversee implementation of the procurement activities especially acquisition of training facilities and storage facilities.

Synergy existed between different census committees (procurement and technology data management sub-committees) and the procurement division, and user directorates that facilitated the smooth running of the process. There was good communication between the procurement division and the user directorate on item specifications/terms of reference (TORs) to ensure that any deviations were detected early, and action taken. The user directorate provided adequate specifications/TORs as per the requirements to procurement section which ensured timely procurement. Procurement sub-committee meetings appraised the members with census materials requests before they are forwarded to the Director General for approval.

Disposal of mobile devices required data removal which consumed valuable time because they could not be disposed of with KNBS data.

A sub-committee of the census TWC was established to undertake financial management for the censuses. The committee was also charged with the responsibility of mobilizing resources from various stakeholders and development partners to support implementation of various census activities and processes. The mobilised resources were 99% from the government and managed centrally. Regulations were developed which were shared with officers that were advanced some funds to manage the payments at county levels. KNBS had a bank account dedicated to the census at the headquarters, through which all funds were made. At the sub-national level (county) census bank accounts were opened to manage payments at that level. All receipts were acknowledged through the official receipting system and payments were supported by fully authorised documentation. All funds allocated to the counties were remitted to the county accounts as Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE), regularly.

Several activities undertaken during the census process were facilitated through imprest advanced to members of staff. Funds approval was done in a hierarchical manner - the user requests were first approved by the Director General who forwarded the same to the Director, Corporate Services for processing. Payments that were made through the county census bank accounts included allowances (of ICT supervisors, content supervisors and enumerators, county census committee members, sub-county committee members, village elders, security personnel), payments for training venues and storage of various materials, transporting personnel and materials, among others.

After the Census was completed, approved accounting documents were forwarded back to the finance office at Real Towers in Nairobi and to the County Accountants’ offices. These accounting documents consisted of signed payment schedules, attendance registers and meeting minutes to account for sitting allowances paid to sub-county committee members while planning for recruitment, undertaking shortlisting, interviews, and approving the list of successful candidates and contacting them.

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