Report: Gov’t spends D199M on procurement, usage of quarantine facilities

The report noted that the team requested evidence of needs assessment carried out at the initial stage of any procurement activity but remained outstanding. NAO added that procurement should not be carried out without proper needs assessment as it is an important activity that ensures that the required quarantine centres or facilities are procured and used which will help avoid wastage of resources.

On the failure to comply with the procurement process and procedures, NAO revealed that services totalling D8, 995,235 were rendered even before a request for approval was sent to GPPA. The NAO report further noted that all proposed contracts for procurement shall be submitted to the authority for its approval, along with the complete contract file.

The report indicated that contracts were awarded before GPPA approval was granted, emphasizing that the award for the procurement of quarantine centres was issued before obtaining approval from the GPPA. It continued that all proposed contracts for procurement shall be submitted to the Authority for its approval, along with the complete contract file.

On failure to submit quotations, the institution’s report revealed that payments of D193, 207,843.00 were sourced through Request for Quotations, stating that no evidence was provided to confirm this method of procurement was followed as the list of all the service providers (successful and unsuccessful) with their respective price quotations were not presented for review.

“Authorizing officers should ensure that quotations are requested and provided by at least three independent bidders and the most responsive bidder is selected before payments are authorised and approved,” NAO noted.

On its conclusion, the NAO highlighted that based on the evidence obtained; control weaknesses were identified during the audit as the audit team did not receive sufficient information and documentation from Ministry of Health to substantiate the procurement and payment to quarantine centres or facilities.

The NAO concludes that the Ministry of Health failed to comply with public procurement laws and regulations.