adminTHE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has cleared itself of any wrongdoing in the decision to direct schools to procure buses from local coach assemblers, saying the State Procurement Board was the one responsible for the decision.
In June this year, the education ministry wrote to its provincial and district offices informing them of the latest position, which it said was aimed at curbing “the rise in malpractices in the procurement of the buses by schools as well as the increasing number of schools that are being taken advantage of by shrewd suppliers”.
Three local coach building companies, Deven Engineering, AVM Africa and automobile maker FAW Zimbabwe have been selected to do business with schools in the purchase of buses.
The decision has, however, flung the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the State Procurement Board (SPB) into the eye of a storm, amid revelations the three companies were handpicked without going to tender.
Some companies, which used to import and sell buses to schools, have come out accusing the education ministry and SPB of malpractice by cherry-picking the three companies without going to tender to allow other interested suppliers to submit their bids.
The capacity of the three companies to meet the demand of buses has also been questioned.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango said all queries over procurement of buses by schools should be directed to the State Procurement Board, which she said was responsible for making the decision.“Those companies that are complaining should approach the State Procurement Board and seek audience. They should take up their issue with the right institution which was responsible for the decision and is mandated to resolve such matters, not us.
“We only acted on a directive, and there is little we can do to entertain the complaints,” she said.
Investigations by Sunday News have revealed that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education had initially requested to flight a formal tender for the supply and delivery of 6 000 buses to schools.
The request was however, turned down by the SPB which directed schools to approach the three local companies.
Investigations also showed that the three companies were charging schools between US$180 000 and US$200 000 per bus, compared to US$80 000 to US$100 000 per bus which was being charged by the other companies that have been elbowed out of doing business with schools.
Some disgruntled school heads have also expressed concern over the directive restricting them to the three struggling companies.
Two weeks ago the Minister of Education called for a press conference to clear the air on this issue, with the ministry’s public relations officer Mr Patrick Zumbo saying a press statement would be released soon after the conference.
The conference was, however, cancelled and no press statement was released. Efforts to get a comment from SPB chairman Mr Charles Kuwaza were fruitless as he was not answering his mobile phone.
Mr Kuwaza had also not responded to questions sent to him by email, by the time the paper went for print. Under the latest arrangement, schools are expected to submit their bus requirements through their district and provincial offices.
Provincial offices are then required to consolidate the bus requirements and submit the list to the ministry to facilitate bulk purchases to enable savings through quantity discounts.
Online Reporter