MBABANE – The latest procurement compliance report reveals widespread non-compliance across government.
Public procurement system continues to face serious compliance challenges, with the majority of government ministries and public entities failing to meet mandatory reporting requirements under the Public Procurement Act of 2011.
This is according to the latest Procurement Compliance Monitoring Report published by the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA).
The latest report paints a sobering picture of widespread non-compliance in the submission of procurement plans, quarterly procurement reports and contract management reports for the 2025/26 financial year.
While a handful of public entities have demonstrated adherence to procurement regulations, overall compliance remains low, raising concerns about transparency, accountability and value for money in public spending.
The ESPPRA report tracks whether procuring entities submitted the required Annual Procurement Plan (APP) for FY2025/26, as well as Quarter 1, Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 procurement reports and contract management reports, in line with the Public Procurement Regulations of 2020.
Importantly, the report does not assess the quality or accuracy of the submissions, nor does it constitute an enforcement action. Instead, it focuses purely on submission status, providing a snapshot of compliance levels at the time of compilation.
Entities were classified as compliant only if all mandatory reports were submitted within prescribed timelines. Those that submitted some documents – or none at all – were categorised as non-compliant.
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Tale of contrasts within ministries
MBABANE – A striking feature of the report is the uneven compliance within individual ministries.
In several cases, parent ministries themselves failed to submit any reports, while agencies under their supervision demonstrated partial or full compliance.
For example, within the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the ministry itself submitted no reports at all, yet Eswatini Railways emerged as fully compliant, submitting all required documents.
Similarly, the Ministry of Agriculture failed to submit any reports, while entities such as NAMBoard, EWADE and the Eswatini Cotton Board showed partial compliance.
This pattern suggests that non-compliance is not merely a capacity issue, but may also reflect weaknesses in internal oversight, coordination and accountability at ministerial level. Despite the overall bleak picture, the report highlights a small group of entities that met ESPPRA’s reporting requirements, offering proof that compliance is achievable.
Fully compliant entities include Eswatini Railways, ESPPRA itself, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS), Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA), ENPC, EWSC, Youth Enterprise Fund, CMAC and selected local authorities such as the Municipal Council of Mbabane, Matsapha Municipality, Lavumisa Town Board and Vuvulane Town Board.
These entities submitted all required procurement and contract management reports within the reporting period, demonstrating that regulatory compliance is attainable with proper systems and leadership.
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