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Tendai Mugabe Harare Bureau
Government has established a Cabinet Committee that will monitor the State Procurement Board to ensure transparency in the awarding of tenders for capital projects. This was after it emerged that undeserving companies are being awarded multi-million dollar projects through corrupt dealings.
Serious malpractices were also unearthed in the bidding system, which resulted in firms awarded tenders failing to complete projects because of lack of capacity.
In some cases, tenders are being awarded to shelf companies that would then outsource the project and/or seek equipment from other firms after having claimed to have capacity to do the work tendered for.
The new Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure and Utilities is chaired by Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa.
Addressing the media in Harare on Tuesday, Minister Chinamasa said the committee’s primary task was to ensure transparency in the tender system.
“We have set up a number of committees since we came in as a new government,” he said. “One of them is the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure and Utilities which I also chair. We want more transparency and we will be keeping our eye on everything that takes place: that we can assure you. We want value for money.”
Minister Chinamasa said many Asian countries preferred that if they extended a loan for a project in Zimbabwe, the contracts should be awarded to companies from their countries registered here.
“So, if we get a loan from China we tender it among Chinese companies and if we get a loan from India we tender it amongst Indian companies,” he said.
“I am talking here about contractors, say to put power generation, and again this is to enhance transparency in the manner in which we transact business.”
Government, Minister Chinamasa said, was going to appoint new boards for most public companies as part of the anti-graft drive.
“As we go into the future, first we should have a situation where we have increasingly new boards,” he said.
“At the end of the day we are going to leave a template for each institution on the basis of which it should be guided as it moves forward.
“Some of these are going to be legislated so that anyone who breaches these corporate governance practices will find himself or herself in trouble.”
Online Reporter