PPRA saves 17.64bn/- through audits, monitoring

DAR ES SALAAM: THE Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has saved a total of 14.94bn/- through audits and 2.7 tri/- through monitoring in the last financial year.

PPRA Board Chairperson, Dr Leonada Mwagike said yesterday while presenting PPRA annual performance evaluation report to Minister for Finance Dr Mwigulu Nchemba.

The authority is duty  bound by the law to submit the annual report to the minister within three months after the end of the respective financial year.

“In the 2023/2024 financial year, the PPRA carried out  its responsibilities and achieved significant milestones, such as saving 14.94 bn/- through audits and 2.7 tri/-through monitoring,” Dr Mwagike.

She also said in the same year, the authority improved the Public Procurement Act of 2023 and the Public Procurement Regulations of 2024 that created a conducive climate for public procurement.

“PPRA successfully developed and began using the electronic public procurement system – the National eProcurement System of Tanzania (NeST) with local experts,” she said.

She added: “The authority also enabled the participation of special groups in public procurement, with 153 tenders worth 5.29bn/- issued.”

Dr Mwagike further said despite the success, challenges persist, including failure by some purchasing entities to  use  the electronic system for procurement processes.

“By June 30, this year, purchasing institutions planned to announce 99,671 tenders, but only 53,886 were advertised through the NeST system,” she said.

Adding: “Some institutions did not adhere to legal requirements during public procurement, leading to a lack of value for money.”

To address these challenges, Minister for Finance Mwigulu Nchemba directed all public institutions to comply with the procurement laws and utilise the NeST system to enhance efficiency and ensure real value for money.

He insisted that there was no excuse in adopting the system, urging the procuring institutions encountering challenges in using  NeST System to contact PPRA for solutions.

Dr Mwigulu also urged procuring institutions to allocate 30 per cent of their procurement budgets for special groups to support the government’s efforts to uplift economically people with low income.

“I have been informed that there are some institutions that do not allocate 30 per cent of their procurement budgets for special groups. Such actions undermine the government’s efforts to uplift every Tanzanian, including those who cannot establish a company to participate in government tenders, which account for more than 70 per cent of the government budget,” he said.

Furthermore, he instructed the PPRA to continue raising public awareness so that execution of legal requirements does not hinder government operations.