Moratorium for procurement entities

PROCUREMENT entities have up to the end of next year to align their procurement processes with the new regulations governing the procurement and disposal of goods by Government and parastatals.

In January this year, Government promulgated the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act to ensure the procurement and disposal of goods is effected in a manner that is transparent, fair, honest, cost effective and competitive. The State Procurement Board, whose integrity had been tainted by scandals in the past, was transformed from a procurement agent into a regulator, the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz).

In an interview on the sidelines of a three-day sensitisation workshop which ends in Bulawayo today, Praz capacity building director, Mr Cliff Gondo, said the Act was in sync with Section 315 of the Constitution, which advocates for a procurement system that is transparent, fair, and honest and achieves value for money. He said his organisation has embarked on a series of marathon workshops across the country to sensitise procurement entities about the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.

“As a regulatory authority, we are aware of the challenges that procurement entities are going through, so the Act has made a transitional grace period of two years that is between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019 before they align their procurement systems with the Act,” said Mr Gondo.

“Through a series of sensitisation workshops that we are currently hosting, we are basically encouraging them to adjust their processes and align to the Act.

“We are condoning some of the small things that they are doing such as not being properly constituted as they still have procurement departments that are headed by procurement professionals and they are still doing processes that are not properly minuted.”

About 90 participants drawn from different entities including local authorities and companies in Matabeleland region participated in the sensitisation workshop. The Act regulates the whole procurement cycle from procurement planning, approaches to the market, evaluation and award of tenders, contract management and disposal of assets. It also provides for modernisation and professionalisation of public procurement as well as covering public entities as defined in Section 2 of that Act.

After the moratorium, the procurement regulator will descend on defiant entities to enforce the regulation.

“For now, we are not going out there and stopping their processes but we are encouraging them to come and register with us so that they are in compliance with the law.

“As a regulator, we can also assess the situation and come up with regulations that empower us to increase the fines that are prescribed in the Act for various offences,” Mr Gondo said.

Among other responsibilities, Praz is mandated to offer advice to Government, setting standards and guidelines, training and professional development as well as referring contraventions of the law to enforcement agencies such as the police. For the next six weeks, Praz will be conducting similar workshops in Gweru, Masvingo, Victoria Falls and Nyanga, among other areas. — @okazunga.