PRAZ, NCC move in to curb public institutions procurement leakages

The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) has partnered with the National Competitiveness Commission (NCC) to enhance fair pricing in public procurement and reduce overspending and leakages.

As the largest buyer of goods and services in the country, the government pays private suppliers hundreds of millions of dollars annually for procurement, however faces risks associated with overpricing and tender malpractices.

“As PRAZ we are always on the lookout to ensure that we reduce overspending through public procurement by preventing tendering malpractices and overpricing and ensuring that everything is done according to international best practices,” said PRAZ Chief Executive Officer, Clever Ruswa.

Meanwhile, NCC says this measure safeguards the national fiscus.

“A competitive procurement framework ensures that we don’t raise taxes to cater for lost revenue from overpriced invoices and the national market pricing index will create that strong framework for transparency,” noted
National Competitiveness Commission Executive Director, Phillip Phiri.

Apparently, government departments, local authorities and ministries has over the years been prone to corruption related to procurement.

At some instances prices of goods and services have been inflated with public officials allegedly pocketing the difference.

Few years ago, an outcry ensued after the Parliament of Zimbabwe bought computers at inflated prices, this resulted senior official(s) losing their job(s).

Zwnews