Zimbabwe amends public procurement law

PHILLIMON MHLANGA

Government is making amendments to the country’s public sector procurement law to streamline bottlenecks identified over the past two years, Business Times can report.

The amendments are also meant to strengthen the screening criteria to minimise the number of people or entities getting away with big projects yet without capacity.

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act was passed into law in 2017 and came into operation in 2018 as part of government’s  public financial management reforms.

The amendments will have significant ramifications to both suppliers and the government’s procuring entities.

The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) acting chief executive officer, Clever Ruswa, confirmed the development to Business Times.

“We are amending the PRAZ Act. We have set up a Committee to look into that,” Ruswa told Business Times.

Ruswa said there were many aspects that were not promoting the principles of transparency, accountability, integrity, efficiency, fairness, cost effectiveness and competitiveness and public confidence in public procurement and the disposal of public property.

These, according to Ruswa, included the issue of thresholds, budgets and price adjustment.

The auditor-general, Mildred Chiri, could also be removed from the Special Procurement Oversight Committee (SPOC) which scrutinises procurement contracts, due to conflict of interest.

The chair of SPOC is the attorney general and deputised by the accountant general.

The audit general, Chiri, and the principal director at Public Works are part of the Committee.

The autonomy of auditors in the performance of their professional duties has always been considered a cornerstone of their profession.

Auditors are expected to submit independent opinions.

But, in this respect, Chiri’s presence in SPOC, gives rise to conflict of interest  as she would come back and audit  the books of procuring entities which use public funds, which calls for transparency to ensure that the government gets the best terms and value  for money.

It also reduces corruptions.

Ruswa disclosed that the authority was working on closing some gaps especially on SPOC, in which Chiri is part of.

He also disclosed that a Committee to investigate the issue of thresholds has been set up.

The current law says anything US$100 000 and above, should bring it to PRAZ for review.

There has also been an outcry over contracts which are signed without a budget.

“It’s criminal,” Ruswa said.

“Section 94 of the Act is very clear. It says entities should not go beyond 60-90 days without paying. A contract should be signed when there is a budget not otherwise like what is happening now. It’s one area which we are aligning,” he added.

PRAZ currently regulates 345 State entities and government institutions.

Section 80 of the Act says if a contractor adjusts the price by more than 20% of the original price, the procurement entity may terminate the contract.

“There are still serious challenges in evaluating projects. It’s quite a headache,” Ruswa said.

Procurement is a strategic tool in public services delivery hence the need to modernise the process.

It is estimated that the magnitude of government expenditure is between 20% and 25% of the 2020 National Budget, which is about ZWL$60bn.

The Act abolished the State Procurement Board, which was the supervisor and responsible for making procurement decisions.

It created PRAZ, which is no longer involved in the adjudication and awarding of tenders like before.

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.

But, the progress on the implementation of the legislation had been lagging with some government entities turning a blind eye on the employment of the Act.