Members of Parliament have criticised the existing public procurement practice whereby hotels with a ranking from four stars and above are awarded public tenders without competition. They said this situation is unfair as it excludes other hotels from winning public tenders for their growth purposes, especially in Kigali. They expressed the concern on November 21, as the Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Francis Gatare, was appearing before the plenary sitting of the lower chamber of Parliament to provide answers to issues faced by the hospitality and tourism industry. ALSO READ: Trade Minister, RDB CEO summoned over SMEs, hospitality issues Gatare told lawmakers that the awarding of service provision tenders to public entities to four- and five-star hotels resulted from instructions and a guideline issued by the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA), pointing out that it is not RDB that initiated it. It was done in the framework to facilitate public entities, including ministries, to easily get good services from those hotels, he indicated. This he said, is done through a framework contract – long term partnership agreement between public entities and the eligible hotels – adding that it helps lower the cost of service to public entities. MP Justine Mukobwa said that hoteliers argued there is unfair treatment because in areas where there are no four- and five-star hotels, those with three or two stars and guest houses get public tenders, yet in the City of Kigali, they are not entitled to such tenders. “Why shouldn’t the public tendering process be based on the service a hotel offers rather than stars, and they (hotels) all enter a competition, and the winning bidder gets awarded a tender,” she wondered. “You realise that the major client for hotels is the government. So, we found that having those hotels (under four stars) excluded in getting any public tender is a hindrance,” she said, suggesting that though there is a framework contract between the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) and RDB, RDB should examine the issue as the entity in charge of supporting hospitality industry development so that the inequality in question be addressed. In response, Gatare said that RDB will consult with RPPA to see whether the list of authorised hotels was made with due diligence, and where inequality will be detected, the opportunities be given to all. He acknowledged the fact that there are hotels that prove to have the capacity to provide quality service even though they are under four stars. Meanwhile, on the delays in evaluating hotel services for star ranking purposes, Gatare said that the assessment for star awarding is done every three years. He talked about the possibility to carry out such an exercise every year to ensure that the hotels that meet requirements can get a higher star ranking they deserve.
