The government has announced a freeze on all pending public tenders starting today. The move marks the official switch to the Electronic Government Procurement System (e-GPS), a digital platform aimed at streamlining how public contracts are awarded.

The government says the shift is meant to boost transparency and crack down on tender cartels, long blamed for bleeding billions from public coffers.

All government agencies are required to pause any ongoing or new contracts until they fully transition to the new system. This impacts ministries, parastatals, and counties across the board. This nationwide directive affects every arm of government involved in public procurement, from the national government to the counties.

As of today, no new procurement contracts can move forward outside the e-GPS platform. In theory, e-GPS could end shadowy backdoor deals. But experts warn that success depends on three things:

• Proper training of procurement officers

• Clean, secure data migration

• Genuine political will

A digital system is only as honest as the people behind it. e-GPS is a promising step.