Malpractices under the Garment of Public Procurement
A workshop on Public Procurement in Ethiopia as well as the challenges revolving around it and the antidotes recommended for over-coming the challenges was held on 2 July 2012 at renaissance hall of ECSU's main campus. The workshop was jointly organized by the Federal Public Procurement Agency (FPPA)and ECSU's Procurement Department under the Institute of Tax and Administration (ITCA).
The first ECSU-FPPA workshop had brought together academicians, staff members of the agency, representatives of donor organizations and representatives of the private sector .It aimed at forging ties between the agency and the university, deepening awareness on procurement and the malpractices cloaked under its garment. It as well eyed at setting a mechanism of addressing the malpractices in a sustainable manner.
In a keynote address he made on the occasion Director General of Public Procurement and Property Administration Agency ATO Tsegaye Abebe noted public procurement cuts across nearly all sectors of governmental programs and investment projects. He also noted it is famous for consuming nearly 70% of the public budget. And as such he said it deserves great attention.
If procurement is poorly managed it could undermine the socio-economic policies and poverty reduction program of the country, he added. He said
"cognizant of this fact including skills development and professionalizing as well as maintaining good performing public procurement system are accorded significant attention at all levels"
He expressed optimism that the establishment of the department of procurement studies at the Ethiopian Civil Service University will also contribute a lot in bridging the capacity gap that Ethiopia is currently facing in areas related to procurement. He also extended appreciation to ECSU for its pioneering initiatives.
Summarizing the various research papers presented during the course of the workshop deputy Director of ITCA Ato Zewdie Bezabih noted the workshop has provided a forum for information and experience sharing on cross-cutting issues related to public procurement and asset management both at Federal and regional levels.
He noted the presentations as well as discussions have addressed how the country could amend the shortfalls pertaining to the effectiveness, transparency of the existing policies and how to circumvent administrative challenges related to procurement and asset management at both federal and regional levels.
Enumerating the shortfalls mentioned, he specified the following factors: inefficiency on the part of most procurement officers, lack of accountability, absence of transparency, favoritism based on subjective criteria and bureaucratic procedures, malpractices related with corruption such as the leaking out of information. He also ascribed lack of procurement planning, poor contract administration, poor record keeping, lack of a clear organizational structure, poor complaint handling mechanism and lack of commitment on the part of appointed officials to the sad episode manifest in public procurement.
As a solution, he noted, participants have recommended setting a comprehensive legal framework, conducting a vigilant monitoring and auditing to ensure compliance with guidelines. Setting standard, terms and conditions for suppliers, promoting openness, establishing a well coordinated procurement procedure to streamline the system, giving skill upgrading training, sensitizing administrators and parliamentarians on the problem, capacitating procurement officials in a continuous manner, harmonizing rules and practices and recasting the organizational structure for procurement
He concluded ITCA will promote problem solving research on issues that call for focal attention
In a closing remark he made Development and administration vice president Dr. Mekonnen Jemaneh noted if we alleviate poverty, the grass root cause of corruption, corruption could make a nosedive.
He further noted behind the curtain of corruption lurks a mischief in top public procurement. He emphasized the significance of ideas cross-pollinating workshop that throws light on the major procurement challenges manifest at different regional states and organizations as well as how to go about it.