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AFC accuses Govt. of engaging in unfair procurement practices despite regulatory Commission
Kaieteur News – The A Partnership for National Unity +Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition is accusing the Government of continuing to engage in unfair procurement practices despite the establishment of a Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
In a statement issued via the Office of the Opposition Leader, after its weekly press conference held on Tuesday, the Coalition said the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government continues to favour specific groups in the award of State contract.
“We need to address the gross imbalance in the award of government contracts both in terms of the amount of persons getting contracts and the money value of those contracts. We have seen attempts to give small contracts in the light of the criticisms but no attempt to redress the inequities in the earnings from those contracts,” the Opposition said while noting that the PPC as a body with constitutional powers can address such issues.
The Opposition group said too that the PPP, during its previous term in office, thwarted both the establishment and the functioning of PPC noting that “it was under the Coalition government in 2016 that the PPC was re-established after an absence of a decade under the PPP.”
“However with the existence of the PPC, the PPP is still awarding contracts in an arbitrary way and in violation of the Public Procurement Act,” the APNU+AFC said adding that the “PPP never allowed the [smaller groups] fair and equal opportunity to develop any track record or financial and technical capability. In stating these facts, we do not cast blame on the many successful contractors who simply played by the rules that the Freedom House designed for its own political gains.”
As such, the APNU+AFC called on the PPC to employ measures that will help address, “unfair measures”.
“We need to seriously resolve these unjust and unconstitutional disparities in contract awards. The Public Procurement Commission must join us to work towards building a public procurement system that, while remaining competitive, can at the same time include special measures to correct previous discrimination and injustices by opening the door for wider participation from under-represented groups thus distributing the economic wealth of the country in a way that promotes social and economic justice,” the statement said.
In July 2022, a new PPC was sworn in. The purpose of the Commission as detailed in the Constitution is to monitor and review the functioning of all public procurement systems to ensure that they are in accordance with law and such policy guidelines as may be determined by the National Assembly.
Among the duties, the PPC is responsible for monitoring the performance of procurement bodies with respect to adherence to regulations and efficiency in procuring goods and services and execution of works.
The body is also responsible for monitoring and reviewing the procurement procedures of the ministerial, regional, and national procurement entities as well as those of project execution units.
It is also empowered to investigate complaints from suppliers, contractors and public entities and propose remedial action as well as investigate cases of irregularity and mismanagement, and propose remedial action.
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