Procuring entities directed to revise their yearly procurement plans
ALL procuring entities have been directed by the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) to review their annual procurement plans in accordance with the revised levels of approvals and thresholds.
The revision of levels of authority for approvals and thresholds for the use of procurement methods is as a result of the issuance of the Public Procurement Regulations, 2022.
This is according to the ZPPA Director General, Idah Chella, in a directive contained in a Circular she issued to Permanent Secretaries and Controlling Officers, Chief Executives of parastatals, all Town Clerks and Council Secretaries of Local Authorities.
Ms Chella explained that the revised level of authority for a Controlling Officer or Chief Executive officer was up to K250, 000.00.
“Procurement plan line items that have been affected by the revised thresholds should be updated and that procurements valued above K500, 000 up to K1, 000,000 should be revised from open national bidding to simplified bidding.
“Procurements valued above K300, 000 but not exceeding K600, 000 should be revised from open national selection to simplified selection,” Ms Chella said.
Regulations 28 and 29 of the Public Procurement Regulations, 2022 set out the new levels of authority and thresholds.
Ms Chella guided that procurements that were not affected by the revised thresholds needed not be updated as these could still be processed by the system.
She stated that the electronic government procurement (e-GP) system had since been reconfigured to accommodate the changes.
Procuring entities, she said, were required to expeditiously resubmit the revised plans through the e-GP system and ensure that there is no disruption in the procurements to be undertaken on the system.
“Procuring entities should note that the annual procurement plan revision process should not affect the tenders that are in progress. All addresses are advised to ensure that the contents of the Circular are brought to the attention of all staff under their supervision,” Ms Chella said.