Africa-Press – Botswana. Ministries of Health and Finance are exploring options of paying suppliers.
Answering a question in Parliament on Monday, Assistant Minister of Health, Mr Lawrence Ookeditse however said he could not provide a specific date for when all outstanding payments would be settled due to the reliance on the availability of funds.
As of July, he said the ministry owed 53 private businesses for goods and services rendered.
He said the smallest amount owed to a supplier is P1 100.00, while the largest amount owed is P155,726,787.27.
Mr Ookeditse, who cited the nation’s current financial crisis as the reason for the delayed payments to service providers, assured Parliament that the ministry was prioritising the settlement of overdue payments over new procurement to improve spending control. He emphasised that any available funds were being used to settle the existing outstanding debts. The assistant minister further admitted that in some cases, procurement was carried out before funds were guaranteed.
This, he said, was attributed to a few key factors, being the necessity for prompt action on immediate service needs like urgent repairs to infrastructure and medical equipment, as well as the procurement of essential medications and health-related services. He also acknowledged weaknesses in the ministry’s internal planning and contract management procedures, which they were working to resolve through better financial oversight.
The assistant minister was responding to a question from Kgatleng West MP, Dr Unity Dow, who had asked the minister when he expected the ministry to be able to pay private businesses for the services and goods procured within the agreed time frame.
Dr Dow also wanted to know how many businesses were owed, what was the smallest amount owed and the highest amount owed.
She also wanted to know why procurement was done when there were no funds to pay for the goods or services.
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