26 Jul 2016

Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Vincent Seretse, says public tenders should promote fairness and transparency.

Speaking at the Competition Authority and Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) workshop in Gaborone on July 26, Mr Seretse said his ministry was responsible for facilitation of investments and development of conducive environment for sustainable trade and industry as well as ensuring that businesses created wealth and employment.

“It is through fair and competitive bids or tenders that the procuring entities could get value for their money,” he said, adding that unfortunately some enterprises were determined to collude and rig bids.

He note that every year, there were reports of bid-rigging cases noting that since the establishment of the Competition Authority in 2011, bid rigging cases accounted for approximately 40 per cent of the restrictive business cases that the authority had handled.

Mr Seretse said bid-rigging plagued procurement around the world and could cost governments and taxpayers billions of money hence any effort geared at putting in place mechanisms of addressing such ills was highly commendable.

He said in the current financial year alone, the government’s development budget was at-least P13.81 billion and empirical evidence had shown that bid rigging could increase the cost of goods and services by up to 20 per cent or more adding that data had shown that the cost was between 35 and 55 per cent for developing countries.

“The victims of bid rigging are customers and in public procurement where the customer is the government, the harm extends to the whole economy as the high prices paid to unscrupulous bidders affect other developmental goal,” he said.

The impact, he said, was particularly serious when it involved the provision of essential goods and services that affected the lives and well-being of citizens.

Mr Seretse said the fight against bid rigging was crucial for enhancing the economy of Botswana and that the society must be concerned about this trend where public money worth millions of Pula was lost through a tapestry of collusive activities.

He urged all to be vigilant in ensuring that public procurement efficiently delivered the development projects and services that the society so dearly needed. Ends