Governments, the world over, continue to grapple with the issues of public procurement. What is in public procurement that makes it a subject of endless dissatisfaction by a number of its stakeholders? In this article, the writer discusses two cardinal elements of public procurement that are critical in understanding the prerequisites of achieving good results in public procurement. These are: the objectives of public procurement and the performance of the main actors in public procurement. The first cardinal element of public procurement is "the objectives of public procurement”.

Objectives of public procurement

When carrying out public procurement, the government has four main objectives namely: acquisition of goods and services for the smooth running of its affairs, value for money, integrity and accountability. The first objective of public procurement is the acquisition of goods and services for the smooth running of government’s affairs. Goods and services are essential for the day to day operations of the government and it is not feasible that any government can produce all the goods and services it needs. Even if this was possible, it would at least need to buy the raw materials needed for the production of the goods it would be producing for its own use.

Moreover, producing all the goods it needs would deprive the government of concentrating on its core mission thus greatly undermining its efficiency. In addition, producing the goods and services required by the government by itself exposes it to issues of fraud and corruption which are more difficult to manage than when these goods and services are supplied by private operators. Hence governments, the world over, prefer to acquire most of the goods and services they need from private suppliers.

The second objective of public procurement is the government's achievement of value for money when acquiring goods and services from private operators. In general, value for money is achieved when the right goods or services are obtained at the right time, are fit for the purpose they are purchased for, do not cause unexpected costs or inconveniences, remain in use for the expected period at the time of purchase and their cost including acquisition, operation, maintenance and disposal (whole of life cost) is optimum. Value for money is a complex objective that needs continuous effort but once it is not yet achieved, the government continues to face accountability issues.

The third objective of public procurement is to meet the standards of integrity. Public resources are spent to acquire goods and services needed for delivering quality services to the public. Therefore, officials involved in public procurement must possess a high degree of moral standing. This means that their actions must be in public interest only. Their actions should not either directly or indirectly lead to misuse of public resources, unequal treatment of bidders and suppliers or in any way cause loss to the government or tarnish its reputation. In short, public officials involved in public procurement must ensure that it is corruption free thereby contributing to earning the trust of the people by the government. It is in this context that the Ministry in charge of public procurement issued in 2011 Ministerial Instructions No 001/11/10/TC of 24/01/2011 establishing the professional code of ethics governing public agents involved in public procurement.

The fourth objective of public procurement is to have a sense of accountability. This means that public procurement must be carried out in accordance with established procedures easily available to the public. Officials involved in public procurement must be committed to being answerable for their actions. They should be aware that public procurement is prone to corruption and be ready to demonstrate that their actions were done with a high degree of integrity. To be able to do this, they should be able to keep complete records of their public procurement activities which are essential for them to prove their integrity. It is also important that public procurement is regularly audited and misconduct is appropriately sanctioned. It is worth mentioning that officials involved in public procurement activities are required to declare their assets annually, to the Office of the Ombudsman, as provided for by the Law N°55/2021 of 29/8/2021 on declaration of assets.

The second cardinal element of public procurement is the "Performance of its main actors”. These actors are the public officials responsible for managing the public procurement processes and the suppliers of goods and services that the government buys for its smooth running. It is these actors that are largely responsible for the achievement or otherwise of the objectives of public procurement.

Performance of Public Officials

Public officials play an important role in the achievement of public procurement objectives mentioned above. They not only are responsible for all the processes and operations but also take decisions that are necessary in public procurement activities. Therefore, public officials responsible for public procurement must possess the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude in order to achieve public procurement objectives. However, as shown by the Auditor General’s reports, over the last 16 years (since the adoption of the first law on public procurement), public procurement is difficult to master. In this regard, public officials responsible for procurement should have/do the following things in order to increase the chances of high performance: right mindset, master the legal framework, understand the procuring entity’s procurement requirements, soft skills and positive engagement with suppliers.

Right Mindset

Public officials responsible for procurement should be driven by the need to enable their entities to achieve their objectives through public procurement. They should strive to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable them to be high performers. Much as there are institutions responsible for training public officials, they should understand that such training might not be sufficient if not complemented by their efforts using other available sources.

They should not allow themselves to be overtaken by the fear of accountability which leads to some officials living in fear of being prosecuted that negatively affects their performance both at the technical and decision-making levels. They should understand that the level of scrutiny that is involved in public procurement activities is necessary for good governance and that the law is there to protect them rather than make them live in fear and not doing their responsibilities or doing them poorly. In fact, articles of the law on sanctions are clear enough for both good performance and protection of practitioners by indicating the dos and don’ts.

Mastering the Legal Framework

Public officials responsible for procurement should master the public procurement legal framework and make it their main reference in their operations. They should read it over and over again and internalize it. They should always be sure that all their activities and decisions regarding public procurement are within the limits of the law. In fact, an otherwise well intentioned and seemingly good action may land the actor into legal issues if not within the limits of the law and be an excuse for the fear mentioned in the above paragraph. Conversely, always acting within the limits of the law and achieving your goals increases your confidence even in the face of legal issues.

The writer is a former director general of Rwanda Public Procurement Authority.