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Public procurement ombudsmen needed with urgency
2006-04-12 07:22:57
By Editor
Public spending on procurement forms one of the major pre-occupation of governments in all developing countries, Tanzania inclusive.
Taking into account both recurrent and development expenditures put together as an instance, the government of Tanzania spends about 70 percent of its annual budget exclusively on procurement.
By extension, public procurement activities provide essential inputs towards sustaining the economy in both productive and service business undertakings.
Hence, this is colossal business that needs to be handled with extraordinary care and diligence as it involves spending for public goods and services by using both tax payers’ and donor cash.
Up until 2003, public procurement in this country had been marred by long-standing weaknesses and rampant irregularities in the areas of tendering and evaluation proceedings.
Joint domestic and donor pressures forced authorities to think about reforms, with a view to making government purchasing activities more efficient and transparent. The efforts culminated in the legislation of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) of 2004.
This important law in place notwithstanding, reports shows that the government loses about Tsh.200bn annually because of rampant corruption, theft, embezzlement and over-invoicing arising from poor procurement and supply procedures as well as dubious contracts.
The Controller and Auditor General’s accounts have severally showcased ministries and departments which purport to have purchased particular public items, but with no evidence of any supply releases nor physical verification approval.
Recent surveys attest that Tanzania loses about 10-25 percent of its annual total purchases owing to negligence and deliberate actions by public officials to flout rules and regulations under PPA for selfish ends.
Another subtle weakness in public procurement reform process which has recently emerged is ignorance on the part of potential home-based bidders on the demands implied in the PPA.
Much as PPA provides a legal information bank for those carrying out public procurement using public funds, experience shows that most bidders are unaware of the rules and regulations guiding the PPA.
The PPA implementation therefore needs permanent ombudsmen at both central and local government levels to oversee efficiency benchmarks that would ensure the public is not cheated anymore.
One of the responsibilities of the ombudsmen is to ensure local bidders are aware of the PPA and that public organs entrusted with managing government materials are monitored closely in every financial year.
It is only through this proposed further reform strategy that tendering and evaluation procedures would result in competitive prices through an open competition process that is transparent and non-discriminatory amongst bidders.
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