Sun, 11 Dec 2016 11:42:13 +0000
By Aaron Chiyanzo
THE Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) has promised to follow up and recover the over 40 missing dredgers which were procured by the Ministry of Works and Supply in 2014 but not delivered.
In an interview with the Daily Nation, ZPPA head of public relations John Chipandwe said that the Authority would seriously follow up on cases of missing procurements which were cited in the Auditor General’s report.
Mr Chipandwe explained that the Authority would find out from the relevant ministries why items which were paid for had not been delivered.
He said that ZPPA would also make sure that deliveries were done because public resources needed to be accounted for.
Mr Chipandwe further said that the authority was interested in the matter because it was the regulator of all public procurements.
“We will follow up and recover the over 40 missing dredgers which were procured by the Ministry of Works and Supply in 2014 but not delivered, and other items bought by Government. The Authority will find out from the relevant ministries why items which were paid for had not been delivered,” he said.
And Mr Chipandwe promised that going forward, there would be transparency in Government procurement because of the electronic system the Authority had put in place.
He disclosed that the Authority had launched the electronic Government procurement system to ensure smooth procurement processes.
Mr Chipandwe said that even compliance monitoring would be more effective and that it would cut on logistical expenses as the monitoring would be done online.
He explained that the system only allowed electronic transactions and that it would also make it easy for suppliers to bid for tenders.
“We have government entities, procuring entities and suppliers all registered on our system, so the system will ensure transparency. The code of conduct on how suppliers should conduct themselves will be seriously enforced,” said Mr Chipandwe.
