Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) has blacklisted 197 companies, accusing them of breaching contracts during procurement processes.

The list is composed of companies that the Government cannot work with for a period ranging from six months to five years.

One of the companies was indefinitely debarred for fraud and entering a joint venture with another blacklisted company. 

Public agencies, ministries, public universities and schools procure goods and services through a process guided by the public procurement law.

According to the RPPA Act, for every purchase exceeding Rwf100, 000, a public entity is expected to issue a tender notice, inviting contractors through an open bidding process.

For any firm to bid for the tender, they must fulfil given requirements, including capacity to provide the service or commodity.

RPPA’s investigation officer Harriet Umutesi told The New Times in an exclusive interview that the blacklist is made public to prevent cases of government entities engaging them again and as a form of deterrence.

"The motivation behind making these companies public is to reduce the number of people who don’t honour their contracts and also cut on the number of defaulters who use forged documents like bank statements and proof of contract performance to score tenders,” she said.

Umutesi explained that, at the moment, most names can be found on the RPPA website but they will all soon appear on the e-procurement portal.

She also pointed out that should the company feel that they were being unfairly treated, they were free to go to court to have their name cleared.

"You can appeal through courts of law and if you win, we remove your name from the list. We blacklist people based on thorough information and it is true that we have had some few cases where we have had to scrap some names from the list on court orders,” she said.

MP Theoneste Begumisa Safari agreed with the idea of blacklisting offending contractors, saying that it would go a long way in eradicating such malpractices.

"I agree, a black book is necessary because people commit offences,say, in Rusizi but then move to Kayonza and get tenders but if we blacklist them, it’s much easier to detect,” he said.

According to the law, tenders for works with estimated value exceeding Rwf1.2 billion are open to international contractors. This is also applicable for the procurement of goods and services with estimated value above Rwf600 million. However, depending on the nature of the tender, an international tender may be issued for services or goods of lower value regardless of the size.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw