Sello Motseta
9th March 2020
A total of 118 complaints were received by the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board(PPADB) during the first half of 2019/2020 financial year(works 60, supplies 21 and services 37).
6 complaints were lodged against the board and 47 were appeals to the Board against decisions at MTC and DATC level. Although 60.4% of complaints and appealed were dealt with in 14 days turnaround time a significant number were not addressed within a reasonable time limit.
“65 complaints representing 55.9% of the overall complaints were addressed by MTC’s, DATC’s, parastatals and Councils. That demonstrates that most of the complaints received by the Board are either copied to the Board or have been prematurely brought to the Board before being lodged with the appropriate adjudication structure,” said Elijah Motshedi, Executive Chairperson of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board(PPADB).
He said, “The Ministry of Transport and Communication had the highest number of complaints(31), followed by the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security with 15. Of the DATC;’s Francistown DATC recorded the highest number of complaints with 3.”
According to PPADB officials it contuse to priotize value for money, transparency, efficiency, public confidence as well as fair and equitable treatment of bidders as evidenced by increased number of audits, online tenders and improvements to complaints resolution processes.
Challenges continue with some procuring entities failing to deliver projects timeously, poor scoping, retroactive requests on tenders, delays in disciplining contractors because of poor record keeping by procuring entities, poor internet connectivity in some areas and the absence of district tender committee secretaries in some areas.
In an effort to improve efficiencies the PPADB has engaged the World Bank through the Reimburseable Advisory Service signed between the MFED and the World Bank to review PPADB training material to support and strengthen capacity building in Botswana.
It has also introduced tip offs anonymous service aimed at ensuring that all employees and stakeholders feel supported in reporting matters they suspect may involve improper, unethical or inappropriate conduct in procurement and asset disposal.
“PPADB has since been awarded and handed the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply(CIPS) Corporate Excellence Certificate. Botswana through PPADB was also one of the few countries chosen by the United States Training and Development Agency(USTDA) to pilot the Life Cycle Cost Analysis training module. We also have had benchmarking visits to the PPADB from other countries such as Cote D’Ivoire, their High Authority for Good Governance and a visit by our counterparts from Liberia,” said Lesego Motsumi, Executive Director of Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board(PPADB)
She said, ‘The Namibians visited us for the second time, the first being at a time when they setup the institutional and legal framework for their procurement system and this year they came to benchmark on operations. All this is testament of the amount of work put in place by PPADB to improve the procurement landscape in the country.”
