NAIROBI – The Kenya Institute of Supplies Management (KISM) has initiated a comprehensive nationwide registration drive and membership data audit aimed at purging unqualified and unlicensed personnel from the procurement and supply management profession.
According to Kenya News Agency, the initiative is crucial as many practitioners currently handling supplies and procurement across Kenya are not officially registered with KISM. Despite the database containing about 10,000 registered members, there are over 23,000 practitioners operating in the country. This disparity has prompted the institute to not only update its registry but also to ensure it reflects only those professionals who meet the required standards of practice.
The audit will include targeted compliance assessments to clean up membership data, ensuring that all members are in good standing with legal requirements. This process aims to enhance professionalism in the sector and ensure compliance with laws mandating registration and licensing through KISM. Additionally, the institute has adopted the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to certify practitioners who lack formal academic qualifications but possess relevant experience, making KISM the first professional body in the country to implement such a measure.
Efforts to enforce compliance are also being ramped up, with plans to strengthen the capacity of the disciplinary committee to address professional misconduct. In collaboration with the Judiciary, KISM aims to establish a quasi-judicial committee to handle all issues pertaining to professional misconduct effectively.
KISM Council Member Moses Omondi highlighted that registration is a statutory requirement and announced that regional registration drives are underway to ensure all practitioners are properly registered. He urged practitioners nationwide to take advantage of this initiative, noting that legal mechanisms are in place to enhance compliance and excise unprofessional members from the registry.
KISM, established under the Supplies Practitioners Management Act No. 17 of 2007, plays a pivotal role in the registration, licensing, and regulation of supply practitioners in Kenya.