Corporate services managers and procurement officers in different government institutions need to take extra caution in following up on the execution of public work contracts and always steer clear of corruption.
The message was delivered on Friday in Kigali at a training organised for about 120 of the public servants by the Ministry of Justice.
As the Government moves to reduce situations where some public contracts are delayed or simply abandoned by contractors every year over different issues, procurement managers are being trained so they can contribute in ending the challenge.
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Johnston Busingye, urged the managers to protect Rwandans against poor management of government contracts.
"We call upon you to go and effectively do your work at the different institutions where you are employed,” he said.
He advised that procurement officers need to create a mechanism through which every contract that the government signs is followed through.
"A corporate services officer in the past would go to church and pray for all the contracts in the company to be well implemented but a good corporate services officer today creates a file for every new contract in the institution and appoints someone to follow up on it on a daily basis,” he advised.
The most recent report by the Auditor General (AG) published in April 2018 indicated that, for the fiscal year 2016/17, cases of delayed and abandoned government contracts were still persistent in public entities.
The report audits indicated that a total of 109 contracts, worth over Rwf206 billion, had been delayed or abandoned.
The majority of the stalled projects were noted in districts (70 contracts), Government Business Enterprises (GBEs) and Boards (38 contracts), independent sector government projects (23 contracts), as well as ministries and other central government entities (8 contracts).
Another issue that procurement managers are being warned against regards the purchase of unneeded assets.
The AG’s report identified 137 cases of idle assets, worth over Rwf23 billion, including school computers, medical equipment, and water and electricity supply materials among others, which had been purchased using public funds but weren’t being used.
"You need to stand up and protect us against these things,” the minister urged the procurement managers.
The latter were also warned against corruption in managing procurement processes and public contracts.
They were told that heavy penalties in Rwandan laws have been provided for those who temper with procurement rules and that today’s corrupt procurement officers are vulnerable to penalties that include imprisonment for more than five years.
Jean Marie Vianney Nyirurugo, Head of Economic and Financial Crimes unit at the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA), warned the managers that corruption in public procurement remains a serious crime.
"It’s actually a felony,” he said.
He added: "Let’s raise our integrity level when it comes to using public funds for activities that they were planned for”.
He urged the managers to always shun corruption and also report it whenever it occurs in their institutions.
Many of the procurement managers exhibited interest in continued trainings in line with their work and called for increased cooperation at different levels.
Willy Niyonteze, a procurement manager at Wasac (Water and Sanitation Corporation), said that a procurement officer needs to be a well knowledgeable and skilled person.
"The Government should keep building our knowledge and capacity. Procurement officers could be given scholarships to further their studies. That can help a lot,” he said in an interview with journalists.
He said that all institutions that have something to do with the promotion of efficiency in public procurement should work more closely in order to achieve the desired results.
The Government has been under pressure to minimise losses of public funds in poorly managed public works as Rwanda strives to be corruption-free country.
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