The changing face of public procurement in Eswatini
MBABANE - Procurement is one of the key support functions in the public service and was valued at 15.7 per cent (E9.7 billion) of the Eswatini’s GDP in 2020.
(ffective and efficient delivery of public goods and services by the core functions departments of the public entities depend to a large e[tent on the effectiveness and efficiency of the pro curement function. Therefore strength ening public procurement systems in the .ingdom of (swatini is e[pected to contribute to improved governance and service delivery.
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The establishment of the (swatini 3ublic 3rocurement 5egulatory $gency (6335$ through the 3ublic 3rocure ment $ct of for (swatini came in response to an assessment of the e[isting government procurement practices and systems and the consideration of the on going public finance management 3)0 reforms in (swatini of which procurement is an important component. The assessment identified weak legal and institutional framework; absence of clear guidelines to staff; unclear internal organisation structure for procurement and absence of Mob descriptions for procurement staff; weak transparency and accountability in the procurement process as being some of the issues affecting the procurement function.
,n addition lack of a strong procure ment profession and inadeTuate training of staff has led to failure to employ good practices in procurement creating inefficiencies and possibly loss of value for money in procurement.
$ general lack of understanding of the procedures or non compliance further creates opportunities for corruption and inefficient use of public funds. The inefficient use of funds can be generated from problems across the entire procure ment process.
)rom poor procurement planning definition of the needs and creation of the tendering documents evaluation and award of contracts to poor contract management.
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The overall responsibility for the e[e cution and regulation of the procurement process in (swatini independently rests with (6335$. The agency establishes systems and practices that serve to (nsure transparency and accountabil ity; achieve economy efficiency and ma[imum competition to ensure value for money in the use of public funds; promote more diverse private sector participation through fair and non dis criminatory treatment of tenderers; develop economic capacity in (swatini through the provision of opportunities for (swatini companies to participate in public procurement; and promote regional and international trade in ac cordance with agreements entered into by the *overnment of (swatini.
,n light of the foregoing (6335$; $dvises government and procuring en tities on procurement policy and all other matters relating to public procurement; issues public procurement regulations manuals circulars and instructions to provide further guidance on the interpre tation and application of the $ct;
,ssues standard tender documents and other standard procurement documents;
promotes measures to facilitate par ticipation by (swatini; considers ap plications for deviations to public pro curement processes methods and rules; monitors compliance with this $ct and procurement performance by procuring entities; conducts audits of any procure ment activities; investigates the conduct of any procurement activities that are suspected to involve violations of this law or public procurement regulations; refers breaches of this $ct to the relevant budgetary oversight and law enforce ment bodies;constitutes and provides secretariat services to independent review committees; suspends and main tains a list of tenderers and suppliers that have been suspended from participating in public procurement; coordinates and promotes capacity building and professional development in the public procurement system; organises and maintains systems for the management and public dissemination of procure ment data statistics and information; and report on the performance and functioning of the public procurement system and recommend changes;
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,f you say that someone is a law unto himself or herself you mean that they behave in an independent way ignoring laws rules or conventional ways of doing things. The public sector pro curement in (swatini is governed by the public procurement rules.