New rules for Govt vehicle procurement
TINASHE MAKICHI
The Treasury has directed that State-owned entities should pay uniform prices for motor vehicles as it moves to instill financial discipline amid revelations some officials were bleeding the government through abuse of the motor vehicle procurement system.
Business Times can report that top procurement officials at government institutions have been abusing the government’s decentralised procurement system, inflating prices.
They have been taking advantage of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act passed into law in 2017 and came into operation in 2018 as part of government’ s public financial management reforms.
“The vehicle purchase by government departments is now largely regularised and there are now tighter monitoring mechanisms aimed at bringing accountability and transparency. The previous system was abused by various vehicle suppliers who were charging government exorbitant prices using agents. The exchange rate which was being used by vehicle suppliers was bleeding the Treasury. There is a tighter control mechanism now,” one source said.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act allows tenders to be awarded by accounting officers in various State departments and companies, with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) only playing a supervisory and monitoring role to ensure government entities comply with the Act and other set standards.
This has resulted in the public sector establishing procurement management units which are manned by procurement officers.
Well-placed sources at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development told Business Times that unscrupulous vehicle dealers were quoting government exchange rate of around ZWL$150:US$1,meaning government was paying almost double the amount of the vehicles, although the official exchange rate is about ZWL$84.6:US$1.
However, dishonest government procurement officials have been signing off such transactions for payment.
Suppliers have also been charging the government, which is the biggest buyer of motor vehicles in the country, different prices for the same type of cars.
As a result, the government had to freeze vehicle procurement in a bid to address the leakages.
Efforts to get a comment from Finance and Economic Development permanent secretary, George Guvamatanga, were futile.
His mobile phone number continuously went unanswered.
Analysts said high level corruption has entrenched permanent roots in Zimbabwe, defying government attempts to stop it through comprehensive legal frameworks governing public procurement processes.
PRAZ has since expressed its intention to start making evaluation visits to procuring entities during the fourth quarter of the year. It planned to carry out a series of inspections on elements such as “institutional set-up; procurement management; establishment and approvals; operational cover and adequacy; records of procurement proceedings standards and practices; procurement planning and procurement budget application; and contract management processes”.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has also forged alliances with a number of players by signing memoranda of understanding with PRAZ, the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe, the Auditor-General’s office, and several other national institutions.
