Preferential procurement schemes for local citizens exist-ZPPA  

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 10:11:56 +0000

RESERVATION schemes exist in Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) for local contractors as a way of empowering citizens, says principal and public relations officer John Chipandwe.

Mr Chipandwe said schemes were there to promote the empowerment of local citizens that had been disadvantaged and whose access to economic resources and development capacity had been constrained.

He was responding to concerns raised by the Association of Women in Construction president Dorothy Mulwila that Government should introduce incentives for locals as it implements the Public Procurement Act. “ZPPA believes that Government has prioritised Zambians and has provided an enabling environment to support local companies that participate in public procurement.

“The Authority is, therefore, committed to ensuring that the law is implemented by all stakeholders so that the intended objective of the government is achieved,” he said.

Mr Chipandwe explained that the schemes were aimed at substantially increasing the meaningful participation of targeted citizens and companies in the economic activities of Zambia. He said the goal of preferential procurement was to ensure that as many Zambian citizens as possible meaningfully participated and won tenders in public procurement.

He said during the applicable preference for the locals, the bidding process citizen influenced 4 percent, citizen empowered, 8 percent and citizen owned 12 percent.

“Any target group that feels discriminated during any public procurement process has the right to challenge the contract award decision of a procuring entity and the established appeals procedure will be followed,” he said.

He, however, emphasised that Zambian owned companies were required to be registered with the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) to be able to participate in the schemes.

Mr Chipandwe said the Public Procurement Regulations also provides for a 15 percent preference for domestically produced goods. “Part II of the PPA, Section 6 subsection 2 (i) mandates the Authority to formulate preference and reservation schemes to promote the economic development of citizen bidders and suppliers in collaboration with appropriate government institutions,” he said.