The Sunday News
In the Second Republic, the buying of goods, works and services for Government has been changed from a paperwork exercise that can result in the wrong things being bought, or the right things being bought for too much money and at the wrong time, to a new approach that takes great care to ensure that only things that are really needed are bought, and that what is bought is of a high quality and is not overpriced.
When things that have been bought are no longer needed, they need to be thrown away, destroyed, sold or donated in a way that prevents corruption. The Procurement Management Unit is responsible for all this.
The Procurement Management Unit (PMU) was created according to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDPA) Act 22:23. The PMU is in the office the Secretary to the Commission.
The PMU is responsible for ensuring that goods, works and services needed by the Public Service Commission are made available at the right time, in correct quantities, at the right price and are delivered to the right place.
Procurement or buying activities by the PMU range from small requirements by departments, to more complex procurements of goods, works and services. There are various methods in the PPDPA Act that are followed by the PMU to get goods, works and services. These include the Request for Quotations (RFQ), where those who sell or provide the goods, works or services are invited to provide quotations of what they sell, saying what prices the expect to be paid. Another method is “bidding”, where various providers or sellers of goods, works and services compete.
There is also Direct Procurement where a proven or only provider of a service is directly and officially asked to provide services or goods. These above-mentioned methods are used for goods, works and most services. For consultancy services, more specialised procurement methods that are suitable for required services are used.
In doing its job, the PMU makes sure that the buying of goods or payment for services for the Commission is done in a transparent, fair, honest, cost-effective and competitive manner.
Whenever goods or services are needed by the Commission, the PMU starts by planning the buying process in full and well before they are needed. The planning for procurement is one of the most important activities for the PMU. Procurement plans ensure that only what is budgeted for is bought.
After putting a plan in place, the department then looks for the right method to use in getting the goods, works or services. This is followed by the preparation of documents which can be used by various goods or service providers as they compete to offer the goods, works or services. In order to get the best offer for the organisation, the department also prepares and uses an evaluation method to enable it to gauge the quality or specifications of what is offered by each provider who comes under consideration in the process of buying.
Evaluation is done by an Evaluation Committee to ensure that decisions are not done by any one person. This is done to avoid bias and to enhance the fairness, openness and transparency of the process. It is the Evaluation Committee which recommends which provider will provide the goods or services to the Commission based on results of the evaluation.
After being chosen in the competitive process, the provider or seller of the goods or services signs contracts which are prepared by the PMU. In addition to those documents, the PMU, as part of its management of the process, also prepares procurement reports which spell out how the process has been conducted, who competed to provide the goods or services, what the outcome has been and how it was arrived at.
In order to ensure that the functions of the PMU are of the highest standard possible, the department is manned by qualified professionals. Due to the fact that public procurement handles public funds, this demands high levels of ethical conduct, integrity, honesty and transparency, as required by the PPDPA Act. The Commission also has its own internal control mechanisms, which work together with those provided in the PPDPA Act, to further strengthen the integrity of the Commission’s procurement processes.
In a nutshell, the PMU is mandated by the PPDPA Act to ensure that procurement is done in a manner that inspires public confidence in public procurement systems. There are therefore various reports and returns that are submitted periodically to the Accounting officer and the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe which detail the manner in which procurement is done in the Commission. While it is the primary duty of the Accounting officer and PMU to manage the procurement activities of the Commission, the Evaluation Committee plays an important role.
As the custodian of the PPDPA Act, the PMU also has a responsibility to ensure that members of staff in the Commission are trained on the dos and dont’s of public procurement so that the Commission does not lose funds as a result of doing what is not correct or what is not allowed.
This article is part of a series of articles by the Public Service Commission aimed at engaging with and updating the public on matters of public interest that fall within its mandate. For comments, enquiries and questions, please write to [email protected] ; Call (242) 700881-4; Or WhatsApp 263 788 584 848. For more on the PSC and its programmes, visit www.psc.gov.zw or follow on Facebook Zimbabwe Public Service Commission or Twitter @Public Service Commission Zimbabwe
