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PERMANENT secretaries and accounting officers across the country face charges of dereliction of duty if they fail to comply with national procurement laws, the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has warned.
Permanent secretaries are the most senior non-political public servants responsible for the day-to-day administration and financial management of Government ministries.
Under public finance legislation, accounting officers are tasked with overseeing ministry budgets, ensuring financial compliance and safeguarding the proper use of public funds.
The warning targets public officials who circumvent established procurement procedures, with failure to perform statutory duties constituting a breach of public trust and legal responsibility under administrative regulations.
The directive is contained in Procurement Circular 2026, issued on September 4, 2026, by Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Martin Rushwaya, following widespread observations of procuring entities failing to comply with the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.
The non-compliance extends to Government procurement conducted under bilateral and multilateral agreements.
“No international commitment, MoU, or diplomatic understanding shall be construed as exempting any procurement from the application of this Act,” Dr Rushwaya said in the circular.
He stressed that public officials involved in contract negotiations must ensure full compliance at every stage of the procurement process, “from planning through to contract management and completion.”
To protect domestic suppliers and stimulate local production, the OPC directed all State agencies to strictly implement Section 29 of the Act, which provides for domestic preference and reservation schemes regardless of the source of project funding.
Procuring entities are required to prioritise locally manufactured goods, apply mandatory domestic preference margins during tender evaluations and avoid “unnecessary preference for imported goods where adequate local alternatives of acceptable quality and cost are available.”
Explaining why accounting officers will be held accountable for dereliction of duty, Dr Rushwaya highlighted the broader economic consequences of failing to enforce these provisions.
“All accounting officers and heads of procuring entities are to note that failure to comply with domestic preference provisions undermines national production capacity, employment creation, and broader economic recovery objectives,” the circular reads.
“In this regard, Accounting Officers shall be held personally and administratively accountable for any unjustified departure from these provisions.”
The directive also mandates the immediate and full adoption of the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) System to eliminate manual inefficiencies, standardise procurement processes and enhance transparency.
All public entities are required to process procurement transactions through the online platform unless granted a written exemption by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ).
“Any deliberate resistance, non-adoption or circumvention of the system shall constitute non-compliance,” Dr Rushwaya warned, adding that “strict administrative and regulatory measures shall be instituted against Procuring Entities and officers that remain non-compliant without lawful justification.”
The circular further targets inflated public sector expenditure by directing procuring entities to strictly adhere to the National Price List framework and approved pricing benchmarks in order to curb excessive quotations, procurement abuse and financial leakages.
Under the new measures, procuring entities must benchmark all purchases against approved price schedules, immediately “reject supplier quotes that are exorbitant or unjustifiable”, maintain detailed records of price verification exercises and promptly report pricing anomalies to PRAZ.
“Procurement undertaken outside approved pricing thresholds without proper justification and approval shall attract regulatory scrutiny and appropriate sanctions,” Dr Rushwaya said.
The directive took immediate effect upon its issuance on September 4, 2026, with accounting officers instructed to circulate it to all procurement personnel, evaluation committees and user departments under their jurisdictions to ensure full compliance.
