By Grace Thipa, Contributor:
The
s Authority (PPDA) has assured the nation of its independence in regulating, monitoring and offering oversight on procurement and disposal of public assets.
PPDA assistant Director, Timothy Kalembo, said the Malawi procurement framework has, among other things, decentralised the procurement system, making it possible for government departments and ministries to carry out procurement functions while the PPDA just comes in to determine whether such exercises were conducted in accordance with regulations.
“PPDA is not involved in procurement, making it an independent referee. We know that no organisation can be wholly independent but rest assured the new office, the PPDA, replacing the old Office of the Director of Public Procurement (ODPP), is semi-autonomous. We are assured that, if the law is followed to the letter, there will be no problems,” he said.
Further, Kalembo said the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPD) Act, passed by Parliament last year, has left the appointment of the PPDA Director General (DG) to an independent appointing committee or board made up of a team of experts drawn from reputable bodies.
The bodies include Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi, Malawi Institute of Procurement and Supply, Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Malawi Law Society and Malawi Institute of Engineers.
Under the new legal framework, PPDA DG will be reporting to the board.
Before the PPD Act came into force, State presidents were mandated to appoint the DG of the procurement agency, then operating as Office of the Director of Public Procurement. He added that the passing of the new law still recognises the importance of policy guidance by government and that is why ex-officio members of the board are the Chief Secretary or his representative, Secretary to the Treasury or representative and the Solicitor General or his representative.
Kalembo said if there are cases of suspected fraud in any public institution tied to the procurement processes, the PPDA will continue to refer such cases to the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) for investigations.
“The PPDA has its own mandate but the mandate of investigating corruption remains with the ACB. However, the new law has provided that, in procurements of very high value, the ACB should be allowed to vet some of these procurements. This provision has its pros and cons but, all in all, we are developing modalities on how these two offices may work together to achieve the intention of the drafters of the new law,” he said.
Public procurement activities were for the past 15 years to 2017 regulated by the Public Procurement Act (PPA) of 2003.
Last year, Parliament repealed the PPA after a review found that the law did not fully address the public procurement function.
The new legal framework, PPD Act, has added the function of regulating disposal of public assets to the PPDA.
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