Procurement officials to form professional body

Procurement officers in the country are planning to set up a professional association that that will cater for their needs, says Gerald Yemukama, the Procurement Officer at the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO).He told The New Times that the association will be enable them to share skills and knowledge on how best they can improve the profession. “Procurement is a core area that needs to be improved in terms of skills and knowledge and it’s in this regard that we, as professionals in the sector, intend to come up with an association in which we will be sharing information and ideas,” said Yemukama. He noted that procurement takes up more than 50 per cent of any institution’s budget in the public sector and therefore the association will help professionals to effectively and efficiently manage the funds of their respective organisations. Yemukama said that the association will enable them hold workshops to update professionals on current trend and principles in the procurement sector at national, regional and international level. He said that they have consulted the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA), Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINICOFIN) and Ministry of Labour and Public Service (MIFOTRA) on how best the association can be formed saying that all stakeholders involved have shown interest in it. Ronald Mutungi, the Procurement Officer at Rwanda Administration of Local Government Authorities (RALGA), said that the association will help them advocate for the rights of the procurement professionals in the country. “I am happy that we are soon setting up our association as procurement professionals. This will enable us improve the image and reputation of the profession because a lot of people consider the area as one for corrupt people, which is not true,” Mutungi said. He said that the association will also increase the capacity of the procurement professionals in their daily activities. Antoine Bisizi, a procurement specialist with Gacaca said: “According to my analysis and observation, the association will enable us sensitise and mobilise more people to join this field because majority of people think that it’s a risky career which is characterised by corruption, which is wrong”. He asked all Rwandans in their respective professions to form associations, which he said will help them to work in a more collaborative manner. The School of Finance and Banking (SFB), last week in collaboration with the International Training Centre of ILO launched a Procurement Management Programme.At the launch, the Rector of SFB, Prof. Reid Whitlock, said that the objective of the programme is to promote the procurement sector in both private and public sectors.

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Procurement officials to form professional body