EDITORIAL: Tougher measures against forgery in public procurement needed

The Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) is one of the public institutions that were mentioned in the Auditor General’s report contributing to a mass loss of government revenue. Most of the waste recorded was a result of poor tendering procedures, irregular award of tenders, poor skills in project designs and contractors not honouring their side of the bargain. While RPPA has over the past few years undertaken reforms to streamline the tendering function, many cases of delayed execution of works as well as a worrying trend of projects being abandoned midway by unscrupulous bidders keep coming up. And there seems to be no end in sight. A simple visit to RPPA’s website sheds light to the gravity of the matter: Of the 87 companies that were blacklisted for a number of offenses, most of them were accused of “forgery and use of forged documents and suspended from public tenders for periods ranging between three and five years”. The culprits are let off the hook by simple suspensions yet their offences are criminal in nature, and therein lies the crux of the matter. Forgery should be accompanied by criminal prosecution and not a simple slap on the hand, otherwise, the vice of using forged documents – and in some cases collusion with procurement officers – will continue to rear its head. RPPA needs more robust measures to stem the leakage of government funds, and the sooner it comes up with strict enforcing mechanisms the better. Otherwise any “deterrent’ actions by the body will be futile.

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EDITORIAL: Tougher measures against forgery in public procurement needed