Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana’s Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has warned that weak planning, limited capacity in procuring entities and the lack of an e procurement system are undermining the country’s public procurement framework, two years after the Public Procurement Act of 2021 came into force
Briefing the media in Gaborone recently, PPRA CEO Tumelo Motsumi said the Act, effective from April 14, 2022, expanded the Authority’s regulatory mandate but exposed serious compliance gaps across government ministries, councils, land boards and state-owned enterprises.
She stressed that procurement decisions now rest fully with procuring entities’ accounting officers, while the PPRA functions solely as a regulator and no longer handles tender awards or asset disposal, the latter now falling under the Public Finance Management framework.
Ms Motsumi emphasised that the Act places full responsibility for procurement decisions on procuring entities, represented by accounting officers, while the PPRA serves strictly as a regulator.
Despite its national oversight mandate, the Authority is currently operating with only five staff members. As a result, Ms Motsumi said the PPRA was unable to conduct regular audits, investigations and monitoring.
“We do not have an e-procurement system. Everything is manual. This makes oversight difficult and increases the cost of monitoring,” she added.
She further noted that poor procurement planning remained one of the biggest contributors to delays and wastage. Many entities either failed to submit procurement plans on time or disregarded them entirely, resulting in emergency purchasing and in some cases, directed appointments that bypass competitive bidding.
She described most of these emergencies as “man-made, created by internal inefficiencies rather than unavoidable circumstances.”
According to PPRA statistics, 78 800 procurement processes were recorded across public entities in the 2023/24 financial year. While 74 per cent of tenders were awarded to citizen-owned companies, these accounted for only 38 per cent of the total contract value.
“Citizen companies continue to dominate in low-value contracts, while high-value projects are mostly awarded to foreign contractors due to capacity gaps,” Ms Motsumi said.
She also raised concern about the increasing reliance on micro-procurement, which accounted for 25 per cent of all awards, amounting to P8 billion. This trend, she warned, may point to tender splitting and poor planning, both of which undermine transparency and competition.
Addressing recurring public allegations of interference by the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), Ms Motsumi clarified that the agency has no legal authority in procurement.
“The DIS is not a procuring entity. It does not award or cancel tenders. Its role is limited to offering intelligence advice where security or fraud risks are identified,” she stated.
In the last financial year, PPRA investigated 23 complaints, many involving alleged irregularities, delays and non-compliance. The Authority subsequently suspended 43 contractors for fraudulent practices and blacklisted eight companies.
To strengthen the system, Ms Motsumi said the PPRA had developed a new procurement audit manual, conducted more than 60 capacity-building workshops and issued 24 price guides to help government entities with standardised cost estimations. The Authority is also working with the Ministry of Finance to develop a national e-procurement system that will enable real-time tracking of tenders and reduce manual processes.
The PPRA’s long-term goal, she added, is to professionalise the procurement function across the public service through clear career pathways, standard qualifications and accreditation for procurement officers.
Ms Motsumi warned that procurement failures continue to affect service delivery, noting that weak supervision and contract management contribute to stalled projects, cost overruns and poor workmanship.
“Procurement is central to government performance. Where it fails, service delivery suffers,” she said.
Source: DAILYNEWS
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