Embrace Electronic procurement system, Govt officers urged

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 07:57:14 +0000

By ANDREW MUKOMA

PUBLIC procurement officers in the Ministry of General Education have been urged to come up with a good procurement plan and embrace the Electronic Government Procurement System (E-GP).

Ministry of General Education Permanent Secretary Henry Tukombe said the Electronic Government Procurement System was meant to mitigate the loss of public funds through poor procurement processes.

Mr. Tukombe said that the Ministry of General Education had in the past lost colossal sums of money from poor procurement planning, hence it was prudent for officers to come up with a good procurement plan and embrace the E-GP.

He said repetitive and duplication of procurement of similar items, fragmented procurements, lack of involvement of end-users and stakeholders, misprocurement leading often led to goods and services not being available when required.

He explained that unethical and non-adherence to procurement plan and non-compliance with regulatory policies had led to increase in the cost of procurement.

He was speaking in Livingstone at David Livingstone College of Education (DALICE) yesterday during the Ministry of General Education 2017 Annual Procurement Plan Preparation.

“In order to address the various challenges, the Government is implementing the E-GP which is the use of information and communications technology especially the internet by Government agencies and other actors in the procurement community. This means that public procurement activities for the acquisition of goods, works and services will enhance good governance in procurement management.

“The benefits of good procurement planning and use of E-GP are numerous but they include reduced time and cost of doing business for both bidders and Government organisations,” Mr Tukombe said.

Mr Tukombe said other benefits included better value for money spent through increased competition as the E-GP would publicise all procurement data to the public.

He observed that public procurement played a vital role in the development programme of any country and was accountable for approximately 10 to 15 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

And Ministry of General Education Head of Procurement and Supplies Unit Jacob Masatunya urged user departments to consistently refer to the procurement plan as they initiate procurements.

Mr Masatunya was hopeful that the E-GP planning process would ensure that there was a reduction in audit queries related to procurement and stores matters which he said consistently appeared in the Auditor General’s report every year.