WATCH: Urban authorities not following public procurement processes: PRAZ

19 Mar, 2023 - 00:03 0 Views
WATCH: Urban authorities not following public procurement processes: PRAZ Mr Clever Ruswa

The Sunday News

Judith Phiri, Business Reporter

THE Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) has said most urban local authorities were reluctant to follow public procurement processes and deviate from directions and guidance given to them by the regulator.

PRAZ is mandated to supervise public procurement proceedings to ensure transparency, fairness, honesty, cost-effectiveness and competition as required by Section 315 of the Zimbabwe Constitution.

In an interview on the sidelines of a Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets training workshop for media practitioners in Bulawayo on Friday, PRAZ chief executive officer (CEO), Mr Clever Ruswa said urban authorities seemed to be reluctant when it comes to public procurement issues.

“Local authorities especially urban authorities seem to be reluctant when it comes to public procurement issues. A case in point I may make reference to the funds which were shared through the devolution funds when the roads were declared a state of disaster by the President.

“You would find that we came on board proactively as a regulator to say let’s invoke a section in our Act Section 3 subsection 7 to say the method of procurement should then be alive to the situation that we are dealing with an emergency but in that regard, most urban authorities were sort of not forthcoming,” said Mr Ruswa.

Mr Clever Ruswa

He said as a regulator their role was to authorise local authorities to carry out procurement and they would have shared with them in their annual procurement plans and individual procurement plans.

“If there is a deviation, we then take that as a red flag. The deviations most of the time probably comes from the method of procurement which they may then want to use that would be diverting from what they would have intended to do.

“Especially when we see them doing a lot of direct procurement for us it’s a red flag because we are saying everything being planned why are you not giving competition?”

He said when such instances happen and there is some form of waywardness, they engage some of their partners such as Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission if there are any elements criminal in nature, while they also work with the police and the office of the auditor general to re-look into some of the cases so that they can be addressed accordingly at the right forum.

He said Section 42 of their Act provided that there could be cancellation of a tender in the best interest of the public.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds