BUJUMBURA December 11th (ABP) – The Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Audace Niyonzima calls on public procurement officials to work in transparency.
Minister Niyonzima launched this call on December 7, 2023, during a meeting he held with managers of public procurement management units (CGMP), from different state institutions and project coordinators, to discuss the challenges encountered but also and above all the ways and means of exit. It is a call that comes at a time when the public procurement sector is accused of a lack of transparency and professionalism.
Indeed, during this meeting, the challenges that haunt the public procurement sector in Burundi were discussed. These include the abusive award of contracts, recruitment that does not take into account skills in the various projects, lack of capacity for CGMP members, over invoicing, interference by contracting authorities in the activities of the CGMPs by giving them injunctions on who to award the market, the existence of fictitious markets, fragmentation and many others.
Regarding the lack of professionalism, the participants in that meeting proposed that there be increased training for the providers of these contracts, a proposal which was supported by the Minister of Finance. The latter further urged public procurement managers to work transparently for the well-being and development of the nation while respecting the public procurement code.
He also advised them to remain professional, to cling to the law and not to give in to injunctions from public procurement officials (PRMP), while encouraging them to denounce them: “No one responsible for an institution cannot currently, at a time when we are in the process of re-launching the economy and cleaning up the management of public finances, tolerate that there are officials who seek to award themselves contracts or influence the award of the market without follow the procedures,” he warned.