ZPPA warns suppliers in procurement system
SUPPLIERS participating in the public procurement system have been warned to ensure they fulfil their obligations in accordance with contracts they have signed with the procurement entities.
Following the stern warning from the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA), the authority has therefore conducted 11 investigations in the first quarter of 2022 for various offences such as forgery and illegal contract termination.
The status of the investigations undertaken in the first quarter of 2022 is that eight investigations were concluded and three are on-going, says ZPPA Director General , Idah Chella.
“Some of the investigations involved the submission of a forged PACRA certificate by a bidder in the procurement proceedings.
“Others were alleged contract termination by procurement entities and alleged collusion among suppliers during a tendering process as well as underperforming of contract obligation by a bidder,” Ms Chella said yesterday in Lusaka at the quarterly media briefing.
Ms Chella stated that ZPPA directed procurement entities to re-evaluate the bids where irregularities were noted in accordance with the public procurement regulations (PPR) 181 following complaints from affected parties.
She explained that 11 appeals were reviewed out of which 10 were concluded while one was still on-going.
Ms Chella stated that some of the notable complaints were unfair application of the evaluation criteria by procurement entities, appeal against not being awarded a contract despite submitting the lowest prices bid and failure by procurement entities to provide a debrief to unsuccessful bidders.
She also said ZPPA has recommended disciplinary proceedings against responsible officers in the 381 procurement entities that did not submit the 2022 APPS to the Authority by 31st December, 2021.
“The authority will not hesitate to apply sanctions for non compliance with Public Procurement Act (PPA). procurement entities are required to submit quarterly procurement reports to ZPPA by the 15th day of the month following the reporting quarter,” she said.