PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa says government has tightened screws on procurement processes as it tries to plug holes that have seen suppliers and contractors inflate prices of goods sold to State departments.
Addressing a Zanu PF politburo meeting on Wednesday, Mnangagwa revealed that government had moved in to end opportunism, corruption and nepotism in procurement processes.
“I was pleased to officially open the Procurement Regulatory Authority’s annual conference where the need for upright and patriotic citizens at all levels was amplified as a fundamental and necessary trait for the realisation of equitable socio-economic growth. My government has started implementing modalities to end the rot in procurement,” Mnangagwa said.
The directive came as the government recently admitted that its procurement model was fuelling the parallel market rates for foreign currency leading to the weakening of the local currency.
Unscrupulous companies have been taking advantage of the laxity in government’s procurement protocols with recent reports showing that Parliament had approved a US$1,6 million tender for the supply of 173 laptops.
Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda was forced to cancel the tender after Treasury disputed the payment of US$9 000 for each device against US$500 on the market.
As part of the modalities to end the rot in procurement, the Finance ministry has ordered internal audits in government departments to review all running and future contracts after it emerged that the country has been losing millions of dollars through extortionist pricing by contractors.
“Ministries’ internal audit departments shall carry out a due diligence review exercise on all running and future contracts with special focus on pricing to all payment runs submitted to Treasury and were suspended for funding,” Finance ministry permanent secretary George Guvamatanga recently wrote to government departments
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In July, government announced measures to deal with contractors who were allegedly channelling funds to the foreign currency black market.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube warned that the suppliers concerned would be blacklisted by the Procurement and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe and banned from participating in government tenders.
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