adminNgoni Dapira
BUSINESS lobby groups have demanded investigations into the State Procurement Board following recent irregularities against a Government directive under the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable and Socio-Economic Transformation.
SPB recently granted a Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company tender of 139 one-tonne pickup trucks to two local car-dealing firms, Croco Motors and Paza Buster Pvt (Ltd) against the Buy Zimbabwe directive under ZimAsset to promote and protect local vehicle assemblers.
According to a notification letter to Quest Motors signed by the SPB principal officer, Mr C. Nyanhete, concerning ZETDC tender number HO/05/2014, which amounts to a total of $3 495 147,10, the tender was awarded to Croco Motors and Paza Buster Pvt (Ltd) as the lowest bidders, but Quest Motors denied that and revealed their prices were in the same range.
Buy Zimbabwe Campaign chief executive officer, Mr Munyaradzi Hwengwere, said the move by SPB ignores the national interests and concerns of massive company closures locally.
“As Buy Zimbabwe we do not have any issue against Croco Motors or Paza Buster. “We simply want to promote local production and buying of local products to help our ailing manufacturing sector.
“What the SPB did is not only in contravention of government regulation but of the national interests as well,” said Mr Hwengwere.
He said as a nation we must be mindful of the cumulative national deficit of $9,6 billion which is now higher than the national debt.
“Why should the little hard earned money from parastatals be taken out of the country when we can produce the products locally to match if not surpass the standards of the imported products that will be on tender.
“The downstream effects of that $3 million tender if given to Quest Motors are enormous rather than when it goes to South Africa or wherever the cars will be bought, creating employment elsewhere,” said the Buy Zimbabwe boss.
Affirmative Action Group Manicaland chairman, Mr Fungai Chaeruka, said an immediate investigation into the matter must be done.
Mr Chaeruka said if there were no under-dealings by the SPB concerning the matter then Government was to blame for having double standards on such a clear-cut policy under ZimAsset.
The SPB as the Government body that implements government policy on the procurement of general use or operational vehicles for the public sector, under the regulation of the ZimAsset, Cabinet Circular number 16 of 2011, in July announced that it was mandated to compel all government entities to buy locally.
Mr Chaeruka said such defiance was unacceptable and AAG wanted further investigation into the matter.
“Why should we allow a tender of $3 million to go out of the country when a local assembler is equal to the task? This is unacceptable especially now when our economy is bleeding.
“How can our economy grow when we send money out like that? There is no magic wind that will boost production for Quest Motors or Willowvale Mazda Motors, but it is the little we have that has to circulate,” said Mr Chaueruka.
Mr Chaeruka said in the congress resolutions at the watershed Zanu-PF 6th National People’s Congress held last week, under value addition and beneficiation, curbing exportation of unprocessed products and protection of local viable companies, such as Quest Motors, was put on the priority list.
“The resolution held that Government revives the manufacturing sector by enforcing current mechanisms to curb the exportation of unprocessed products and protects identified efficient local industry from cheap imports.
“Quest Motors is one such efficient company,” he said.
The tender to Croco Motors and Paza Buster Pvt (Ltd) will as a result mean that the 139 pickup trucks will be imported, instead of being assembled locally by either Quest Motors or any other local assembler like Willowvale Mazda Motors Industries.
This is regardless of the fact that the economy is currently on its knees due to a high import bill and a dying manufacturing industry. The purported lowest bidder prices for the tender were: 35 Isuzu KB240 4×4 ($29 299 unit price) and 34 Isuzu KB240 4×2 ($26 499) awarded to Paza Buster; 35 NP300 Nissan Hardbody 4×4 ($23 931,68) and 35 NP300 Hardbody 4X4 ($20 888,78) awarded to Croco Motors.
An attempt to get a comment from Mr Nyanhete at the SPB Harare offices was fruitless by time of going to press on Wednesday.
He was continuously out of the office and did not reply to the email sent to him concerning the matter.
Online Reporter