Fix loopholes in public procurement - senators

Senators have expressed concern over flaws in public procurement and management of government contracts. This was pointed out during a meeting with the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Amb. Claver Gatete, who was appearing before the Senate on Tuesday. The issues the senators raised included award of tenders in contravention of standard bidding processes, entrepreneurs’ change of prices in the course of executing a contract and failure to deliver on time. Amb. Gatete had been summoned to respond to the legislators’ question on why there were still flaws in the public procurement and management of government contracts as reported by the offices of the Ombudsman and the Auditor General. The Ombudsman’s new report which covered August 2013 to June 2014 noted 19 cases of faulty tendering procedures among 102 corruption-related complaints received during the period under review. The complaints also included eight cases regarding mismanagement of public property, as well as 61 cases regarding poor service delivery and maladministration. “In a business-friendly country like ours, such flaws shouldn’t exist because they discourage investors,” said Senator Thérèse Kagoyire Bishagara. The senators also raised the issue of projects undertaken by private entrepreneurs but are never completed, leaving the government counting losses. They cited a case where the Ombudsman’s investigations found that some biogas plants constructed in 2010 were dysfunctional because of errors during construction but the contractors in question went unpunished. Another case which infuriated senators during Thursday’s session is where the government allegedly spent more than Rwf22 billion in drilling geothermal energy but failed to get the utility. For Senator Evariste Bizimana, the government should have carried out enough research before spending money on drilling works. “How can you allow such exploration without prior studies?” Bizimana wondered. Senator Perrine Mukankusi asked the minister why the same mistakes keep occurring yet the government says it had invested in training accountants, procurement officers, auditors, and agencies, internal tender committees. Minister Gatete told the senators that efforts are underway to build a system to ensure clean procurement and efficient management of public contracts. “We are building institutions that will be able to meet the required accountability,” he said. The senators decided that they would task the government to explain further why there are still flaws in public procurement and management of government contracts.

News

Fix loopholes in public procurement - senators