Public procurement law for review

The Rwanda Public Procurement Authority will soon release an amended public procurement law, Bernard Rukumbi, the procurement sector watchdog boss, has said. Rukumbi said the 2007 law was reviewed to empower the regulator.He noted that the revised law makes it easy to apprehend and punish all those involved in procurement corruption, which is not the case today.This was during a meeting with entrepreneurs from the Southern Province held on Friday in Nyanza district, where stakeholders were briefed on the amended law. RPPA was established on 30/12/2007 by law number 63/2007.“I am glad that this body is working to ensure that laws are followed. However, there is still a problem of lack of information, especially on when tenders are announced,” said Pierre Tuyambaze, a businessman, while responding to the announcement.Contractors, however, requested RPPA to start publishing notices for tenders in Kinyarwanda, saying some people do not understand bid documents in English and French. “This will make it possible for those who do not know the English or French to compete for tenders,” Tuyambaze said.“We are going to ensure that all public tenders are always published on the procurement publication system website, where they can be easily accessed by the public. Soon, the tender documents will also be in Kinyarwanda,” said Rukumbi while responding to the complaints.“In order for us to succeed in this department, entrepreneurs should work closely with RPPA,” said Jean Claude Gakumba, who stood in place of the Nyanza district head.The meeting discussed ways through which they can work better with the regulatory body.Many bidders lose a lot of money say when they understate the amount of money they will require to do a certain job.Theoneste Hitimana, the RPPA head of capacity building, urged the contractors to fight corruption and follow bidding instructions religiously. “This way, you will have no difficulty winning tenders,” he said.