Dr Vincensia Apopa: My vision for supply chain profession

Dr Vincensia Apopa, who is seeking to chairp the Kenya Institute of Supplies Management council.

Photo credit: Photo I Pool

What you need to know:

  • Dr Vincensia Apopa is the current manager in charge of supply chain at the National Construction Authority.
  • Kenya Institute of Supplies Management is a national body for professionals in the practice of procurement and supply chain management in Kenya.

The Kenya Institute of Supplies Management (Kism) council will elect a new chairperson in January 2023.

Already, 21 candidates have been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to run for the position. They include Dr Vincensia Apopa, the current manager in charge of supply chain at the National Construction Authority.

Kism is a national body for professionals in the practice of procurement and supply chain management in Kenya.

Dr Apopa, who has also been a council member at Kism for the last two years, says her candidacy is motivated by the need to have an organ that is the voice of practitioners.

“My candidature is premised on the need to bring the change that members expect and deserve. I also seek to instil good corporate governance within the institute,” Dr Apopa says.

Capacity

She says she has what it takes, including relevant expertise and experience, to steer the organisation to the next level, enumerating some of her achievements, which she believes will give her an edge over her competitors.

“As a council member in charge of the disciplinary committee, I rallied my committee members and successfully delivered the first ever disciplinary instruments in the history of the supply chain profession in Kenya.”

Dr Apopa adds the disciplinary arm of the institute has finalised its disciplinary policy, procedures, guidelines and code of ethics and standards of professional conduct. She says her vision is to ensure the organisation becomes the voice of supply chain practitioners.

“My administration will endeavour to protect members from unnecessary victimisation and vindictive criminal prosecutions by proposing an amendment to Section 45(2) (b) of the Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Act, which criminalises every procurement process in favour of administrative actions as opposed to criminal prosecution,” she tells Nation.Africa.

She is also promising to end workplace discrimination and negative profiling by strengthening peer review through the disciplinary committee. Creation of opportunities for the unemployed and young professionals in the field also ranks highly in her manifesto.

To achieve this, the supply chain expert says she will pursue the creation of a procurement function in each procurement entity that has an accounting officer at the county or national government. For those in the private sector, she is promising to develop a standard practice model to be used across the board.

To enhance competency in supply chain, her administration, she notes, would ensure the Kenya Institute of Supplies Board (Kiseb) attains the autonomy of a state corporation and build clear linkages. She would also restructure the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programmes with varied fees and requirements to accommodate professionals at all levels.

Devolving functions

She is also promising to devolve the institute and reduce the turnaround time for registration and licensing. This, she says, would ensure members with urgent registration needs are not turned into beggars for services that are due to them.

She holds a Bachelor of Purchasing and Supplies Management, a Master of Science in Procurement and Logistics and a Doctorate in Supply Chain Management, all from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and technology.

She boasts 30 years’ experience in supply chain in the public sector.

The institute draws its mandate from the Supplies Practitioners Management Act No 17 of 2007, which gives it powers to register and license all supplies practitioners and regulate their practice.