21 Jul 2015

Ministry of Health (MoH) and Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) recently signed a service level agreement  (SLA) to speed up the procurement of works, services and supplies for the ministry.

Speaking at the ceremony on in Gaborone, PPADB executive chairperson, Ms Bridget John, said the idea was to align expectations, bring about certainty in the procurement process and clarify roles between parties at every stage of the procurement cycle.

Ms John stated that from time to time when procurement was delayed, there was a lot of finger pointing and blame shifting which did not benefit anyone at the end of the day.

“I need to appeal to the MoH and others to carefully select officers tasked with the procurement function, including the evaluation of tenders to ensure that they are competent, have integrity and are beyond undue influence,” she said.

MoH permanent secretary Ms Shenaaz El-Halabi, said the SLA signing showed the commitment of the two parties to accountability and transparency.

She said health was unique and central to sustainable development.

“If there are no healthy people, there won’t be a thriving economy,” she said.

She said the agreement would reduce service delivery-related complaints. Ends