Times Of Swaziland: 63 OUT OF 93 PROCURING ENTITIES FULLY COMPLIANT

63 OUT OF 93 PROCURING ENTITIES FULLY COMPLIANT
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Nhlanganiso Mkhonta on 18/08/2024 14:34:00


MBABANE  – Public procurement uses public funds; hence stakeholders expect it
to be executed effectively.
However, the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA) has reported
that compliance with procurement regulations has been very low in the previous
years.
When making his presentation during the last day of the ESPPRA Symposium on
Friday at the George Hotel, ESPPRA Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Vusumutiwendvodza Matsebula stated that in 2023, out of 93 public procurement
entities, only 63 were complying with Regulation 29 of the Procurement Act,
2011.
Regulation 29 provides for continuous monitoring by the regulator. It read
“(1) For the agency to continuously monitor procurement activities and
contract implementation, procuring entities shall submit to the agency annual
procurement plans, information on tender notices, invitations for quotations,
request for proposals, contract award, contract termination and in addition,
quarterly and annual procurement implementation reports in the prescribed format
and through systems developed by the agency. (2) The controlling officers of
procuring entities and the chairman of the Independent Review Committee shall
submit to the Agency not later than fourteen days after issuing their decisions,
copies of the decisions concerning complaints or disputes in procurement
proceedings.
(3) The agency may, upon receipt of reports of findings from the controlling
officer or decision of the Independent Review Committee, recommend to the
competent authority to take disciplinary measures against the concerned person
or body implicated in the report or decision, as the case may be, in accordance
with the provisions of the Act.” Matsebula highlighted that the complying
entities were characterised by their good audit reports, they get a high level
of authority from the workload and capacity assessment (WCA) and they have sound
procurement policies.The CEO highlighted some of the complying entities under
Category A including the likes of Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS), Eswatini Civil
Aviation Authority (ESWACAA) and EswatiniBank.
Entities
He said under local governments, the Municipal Council of Manzini was the best
compliant. Matsebula said on the other hand, the non-compliant entities were
characterised by the fact that they always need to be followed up to submit
compliance reports, they do not submitting even annual procurement plans and
only submit and commit to submitting other reports just so that the agency can
approve their devition applications and review tender documents. He added that
the non-compliant entities use a lot of deviations for procurement, self-made
emergency procurement and limited procurement. The CEO further revealed that
non-compliant often do not have procurement units or qualified procurement
personnel and usually had no officer designated as a procurement officer.
Procurement
In an interview last Thursday, Matsebula said they have started enforcing
compliance in the public procurement space. In an interview yesterday, Matsebula
stated that for transparency purposes, they were encouraging procuring entities
to use the open tendering process as opposed to the limited and single-sourcing
methods. He said the open tender process is more transparent than the other
methods. He said in any given case, where there was limited or single sourcing,
they were expecting procuring entities to have done market research that would
prove or justify the action. Matsebula said as a regulator, they have already
started enforcing compliance by requesting procuring entities to provide their
procurement plans, annual reports and contract awarding reports.
Symposium
He added that they are also working on companies’ beneficial ownerships, which
will prove as to who certain companies belonged to and who is benefitting from
the proceeds of the company’s profits. For the past four days, ESPPRA has been
hosting a public procurement symposium at the Hilton Garden Inn, which has been
held under the theme ‘The Future of Procurement: A Cross-Dimensional
Perspective.’ This event served as a pivotal platform where industry experts,
thought leaders and practitioners convened to explore the evolving landscape of
procurement practices, which will ultimately enhance the significance of
procurement and how this can be utilised as a tool to stimulate economic growth.
Advocate
Furthermore, the end result of the symposium was to advocate for the
establishment of a community of practice for procurement professionals and
practitioners in Eswatini, which will provide a sustainable platform for ongoing
discussions, identify solutions to common issues, and, in the longer term,
inform the establishment of a Procurement Professionals Association in Eswatini.