Procurement body

The Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) is vying for the full adoption of regional procurement practices and guidelines in a move to harmonise and incorporate modern tendering trends.

This was revealed Thursday during the first annual meeting of procurement officers organised by RPPA at Hotel La pallise, Nyandungu.

In an interview with The New Times, Augustus Seminega, the Director General of RPPA, pointed out that they have embarked on a vigorous capacity building drive of procurement practitioners because that has been the missing link.

"We are working on harnessing the procurement practice in Rwanda to conform to the regional and international procurement practices.

To achieve this, we are partnering with the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) which is helping us on how to best to harmonise our practice within the region,” he explained.

He further noted that if the required capacity and order is harnessed into Rwandan procurement and tendering practices, a lot of resources will be saved and at the same time development realised.

He pointed out that the government and other procurement practioners have been involved in improper tendering practices that also breach universal procurement principles, but with the backup of the procurement law that was passed April last year and with developed capacity, great improvements are expected.

When asked about ways through which proper tendering guidelines have been breached, Seminega pointed out deliberate abuse of laws through unscrupulous dealings between some tender officers and clients, and that result from lack of procurement capacity, among others.

According to Jean Paul Uwamungu, a procurement officer at Kanombe Military Hospital and one of the participants, the workshop is a chance to share experiences and ideas with other practioners. 

In a bid to strengthen and develop capacity in this practice, RPPA is also partnering with institutions of higher learning to develop and package procurement courses.

RPPA gets funding for developing capacity in the procurement field from the World Bank through Human Resource and Institutional Development Authority (HIDA).

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