Africa-Press – Botswana. Government is determined to shed inefficiency, eliminate leakages, and redeem the lost billions that have over the years slipped through the cracks of weak procurement systems.
Vice President and Minister of Finance, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe highlighted this at the launch of the Public Procurement and Regulatory Authority (PPRA) brand and the 2024-2028 Strategic Plan in Gaborone today, describing the launch as testament to new beginnings.
“At the heart of every economy lies its procurement system. It serves as the bloodstream through which the lifeblood of a nation, its financial resources flow. When procurement functions well, nations thrive and when it falters, economies bleed,” said Mr Gaolathe.
He said in recent decades, the country lost significant resources due to procurement inefficiencies, poor oversight and institutional inertia hence the announcement of the Government Efficiency in Process Initiative in this year’s budget speech, designed to identify and seal the leakages in the public service delivery pipeline, drive revenue maximisation across ministries, departments and agencies.
Central to the initiative Mr Gaolathe said was the revitalised PPRA as it previously was unable to fully perform its essential role. He said going forward, PPRA was a strategic cornerstone of the country’s economic future.
Regarding the 2024–2028 Strategic Plan, Mr Gaolathe said its core goal was to establish a sustainable and inclusive public procurement system, anchored in transparency, equity, fairness, service excellence, innovation and high impact.
He commended PPRA for an ambitious target to achieve 100 per cent compliance with the public procurement law by all procuring entities, procurement practitioners, and contractors by the year 2028.
PPRA chief executive officer, Ms Tumelo Motsumi said the transformation of the authority which started April last year was still ongoing. She said the journey was not easy due to challenges, compounded by financial challenges facing the country.
Transformation also brings new responsibilities to PPRA which further exposes shortage of skilled human resource, Ms Motsumi said adding that PPRA was losing employees to other state owned enterprises and government departments which remunerated better. Despite the challenges, she said they were determined to do more with less and explore cost recovery measures.
Senior Manager for Strategy Research and Policy, Ms Julia Ditlhong said there was no economic development without public procurement, adding that wastefulness in public procurement derails the economy.
She said the common industry occurrence involving public procurement included wanting of project management, relegating procurement to non-skilled professionals, cost escalations, poor quality and abandoned projects among others.
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