PRAZ undertakes satisfaction survey
BUSINESS REPORTER
The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) is undertaking a national survey as it seeks to measure stakeholder satisfaction in public procurement, Business Times can report.
PRAZ oversees the public procurement of goods and services and stakeholder satisfaction is a critical dimension of all public procurement, according to acting CEO Clever Ruswa (pictured).
“The Authority is undertaking a National Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of its system,” Ruswa said.
The survey runs from May 3 to June 4 and Ruswa believes a robust PRAZ with a responsive system was key to the attainment of Vision 2030 in which Zimbabwe would be transformed into an upper middle income economy.
The procurement regulator has engaged the University of Zimbabwe with Professor Maxwell Sandada as the lead consultant.
“The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe is convinced that the survey will assist in building the country’s competitiveness as we inch towards Vision 2030,” Ruswa said.
PRAZ is a creation of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act and came into operation in 2018 to replace the State Procurement Board as part of government’s public financial management reforms. The legislation created PRAZ which is no longer involved in the adjudication and awarding of tenders like before.
The Authority has been firm in ensuring that public procurement is done according to the law. Recently, PRAZ ordered the Ministry of Health and Child Care to retender after it excluded brokers from bidding to provide insurance services.
The awarding of tenders is now being done by accounting officers in various State departments and companies, with PRAZ only playing a supervisory and monitoring role to ensure government entities comply with the Act and other set standards.
Public sectors are supposed to establish procurement management units which are supposed to be manned by licensed professional procurement officers in terms of the Act.