13 Nov 2013

There has been a notable improvement in the submission of returns to the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) during the 2012/13 financial year.

The deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Halakangwa Mbulai stated that during the 2012/13 financial year, adjudication statistics inclusive of procurement values were submitted by all District Administration Tender Committeed (DATC).

Speaking during the DATC southern workshop, Ms Mbulai said the micro procurement statistics still remained a challenge. She stated that DATCs were therefore encouraged to keep records so that information could availed as and when required. Ms Mbulai said she was aware of the issues of capacity constraints, lack of access to technology and the need for better working conditions faced by DATC’s.

She assured them that the ministry was continuing to do its best to address the issues and urged them to look closely at the opportunities which could assist to manage the working conditions of the DATCs. Lack of funding and a freeze on recruitment, she said, were a reality and expressed hope that one way or the other, a solution would be found. The expectation, she said was that the workshop would provide a platform for DATC’s to share common experiences, challenges and solutions.

The purpose of the workshop was to inter-connect and forge strategic relationships with other members and in the long term foster excellent skills transfer in the management of central government tenders. Ms Mbulai stated that adjudication personnel should from time to time be reminded on best practices in public procurement to ensure that their skills were sharpened to meet the requirements of the procurement and asset disposal landscape.

Stakeholders such as the  Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime and the Competition Authority were urged to join forces to combat challenges facing public procurement in Botswana and to rid the system of threats associated with corruption, unfair competition, fraud, bid rigging and collusion.

She said she was still to liaise with PPADB to appreciate value added by the workshops that had been conducted since August 2011. Ms Mbulai said it was worth noting that in the past, DATCs dealt mainly with food commodity contracts but with time work broadened to include other contracts such as maintenance works, services and non-works consultancy related contracts.

This, she said, calls for attention to empower the committees with necessary skills and experience on sectors concerned. PPADB’s executive director- supplies, Mr Kgakgamalo Ketshajwang said the DATCs are very important as they contribute to efficiency at the local level by making timely procurement decisions which would otherwise be centralized at PPADB. Mr Ketshajwang reminded the DATCs to ensure that when vetting tender documents, the requirement for debriefing of interested bidders should be expressly provided for in the tender documents.

The aggrieved bidders if not debriefed, he said, may continue to lose tenders and nurture suspicions of corruption in the award of tenders. The board, he said, receives complaints from contractors from time to time questioning the evaluation process and or the manner in which the adjudication of tenders was handled at DATC level. ENDS