Cabinet on Wednesday approved the principles for the
Amendment of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act, which were
presented by Chiwenga and directed that the actual Bill be drafted.
Chiri’s latest special report on the utilisation of public resources in combating
the COVID-19 pandemic by ministries, government departments and agencies,
showed that over $890 million was misappropriated.
The report exposed gross irregularities and deliberate
manipulation of figures to facilitate theft of donations meant for COVID-19
relief allowances and projects, with undeserving government officials and
individuals benefiting.
The audit was undertaken with the aid of the World Bank in
the country’s six out of 10 provinces, focusing on disbursement of COVID-19
relief funds, management of quarantine centres and isolation centres, among
others.
Addressing a post-Cabinet media briefing on Wednesday,
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the Public Procurement and Disposal
of Assets Act, in its current form, did not sufficiently provide for
capacity-building of staff employed in public procurement roles, hence the need
to amend it.
“Cabinet considered and approved the principles for the
Amendment of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act, Chapter 22:23
which were presented by the Honourable Vice-President and Minister of Health
and Child Care (Constantino Chiwenga),” Mutsvangwa said.
“Accordingly, the Cabinet agreed that the Auditor-General
be excluded from the membership of the Special Procurement Oversight Committee.
“This is because one of the Auditor-General’s functions in
terms of section 309 of the Constitution is to audit the accounts, financial
systems and financial management of all departments, institutions and agencies
of government as well as provincial and metropolitan councils and all local
authorities.”
In the proposed amendments, the chief executive officer of
the procurement board will no longer serve as secretary to the board of the
State Procurement Oversight Committee.
“It was also agreed that the chief executive officer should
not serve as secretary to the board of the State Procurement Oversight
Committee,” Mutsvangwa said.
“Cabinet resolved that the board should instead appoint a
suitably qualified, competent and experienced company secretary capable of
maintaining a professional relationship with members of the board. The amended
Act will also provide for innovation and technological advancements in pursuit
of international best practice.”
Under the proposed amendments, it will be mandatory for
foreign suppliers to engage local contractors and to also promote technology
and skills transfer.
Cabinet also agreed to reduce the 14-day stand-still period
by procuring entities allowing challenging of the tender award, to seven days,
to facilitate the expeditious delivery of supplies and shorten the procurement
cycle.
Tendai Biti, the former chairperson of the Public Accounts
Committee, said the move to elbow out Chiri from the Special Procurement
Committee was a violation of the Constitution.
“The oversight duties of the Auditor-General are specified
in the Constitution and such amendment means tampering with the Constitution
which is detrimental to issues of accountability and transparency on public
resources,” Biti said.
“Those (amendments) are just plots by government officials
to continue operating without public scrutiny. Only thieves would want to
manage public funds without oversight of the Auditor-General.”
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt Development programmes manager
John Maketo said the push for Chiri’s exclusion raised eyebrows.
“The question is, why remove her now when she has been
operating like that over the past years? It is tricky why there have not been
those amendments before the release of the audit reports,” Maketo said.
“However, it is important to enhance separation of roles of
the AG for her to effectively perform her duties. The amendments are also
relevant to avoid conflict of interest when she is now auditing the same institution
she is participating in.”
The Health ministry has been in the spotlight on
misappropriation funds following the US$60 million tender scandal, where Drax
International, a company which was only two weeks old, was awarded a tender to
procure COVID-19 medical supplies without following a transparent tender
process.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is also proposing
to amend the Constitution to evade parliamentary oversight in international
borrowings, a move observers say would allow looting of public resources by top
politicians.
Zimbabwe has entered into several deals with Afreximbank
without the scrutiny of Parliament. Newsday
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