Praz to evaluate procurement procedures of parastatals 

Source: Praz to evaluate procurement procedures of parastatals – NewsDay Zimbabwe August 26, 2019

PROCUREMENT Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz) will commence evaluation visits to procuring entities during the fourth quarter.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

This comes as research has shown a very high risk of corruption in Zimbabwe’s public procurement sector which is mostly done through irregular payments or bribes in connection with the awarding of public contracts or licences.

A recent Praz circular reads: “The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, hereby, notifies all procuring entities (PEs) that it has scheduled monitoring and evaluation visits to PEs to commence during the fourth quarter of 2019 in line with section 6 (b) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDPA Act) (Chapter 22;23).

“The visits are aimed at assessing the current procurement affairs of the PEs in order to verify their standing vis-à-vis their reported statuses, Praz and other public sector records,” part of the circular reads.
During the visits, special attention will be given to the following areas:

“Institutional set-up, procurement management unit, establishment and approvals, operational cover and adequacy; records of procurement proceedings standards and practices; procurement planning and procurement budget application; contract management processes; and inspections and compliance reviews of selected procurement, contract and assets disposal records in line with the PPDPA Act.”

According to the 2018 Auditor-General’s report, “lack of due diligence when procuring goods and services resulted in cases of some payments being made without subsequent delivery”.

Some of the notable cases of procuring irregularities involved Zimbabwe Electrification Transmission and Distribution Company, Zimbabwe Power Company, Grain Marketing Board and the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council.
Corruption in procuring entities also involves large amounts of public revenue being directed towards public procurement, despite the non-delivery of the goods or supplies.

In July, Transparency International Zimbabwe called for a forensic audit/investigation into the procurement processes of public entities.