13 Apr 2016

Business owners have been cautioned against hiking prices for goods being sold to government.

The director general of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime(DCEC) Ms Rose Seretse said  this  in Letlhakane during ESP meeting addressed by  the Permanent Secretary to the President  Mr Carter Morupisi  

She said it was essential to ensure that there was no corruption when implementing ESP. She highlighted that there was need to exercise due diligence and vigilance when implementing ESP.

Ms Seretse said it had been realised that there were particular companies which win tenders on a continuous basis in certain areas or departments. Some of the companies she said went to the extent of transferring operational locations to places where certain officers were being transferred to.

Ms Seretse said there were reports of some instances where specifications were tailor-made to suit particular  companies. The process of evaluation she said should be transparent and fair, adding that quality of work should also be in a good state.

She said that another tendency of corruption was replacement of government vehicle parts with old ones but charging prices for the  new prices. Variations and change of scope she said should also be looked into,and  a scope should not be changed several times without tendering.

Ms Seretse urged  authourising officers to request proof of services they sign for. She stated that there should be proper record keeping of projects adding that mobilisation funds should be paid directly to the service providers to avoid misuse of government funds.

Projects she said should be unbundled to avoid giving them to a single person.ENDS