Controls in public procurement requires that decisions are done by committees to manage abuse of discretion. The authority that delegates is accountable and responsible for the committee’s decision.
At a national level, the governments set policy and the administration align procurement regulations to achieve the set policy. An agent – principal relationship — is created where there is a danger that the principal (governments) may micromanage the agent removing elements of responsibility and accountability necessary to mitigate procurement corruption.
Procurement corruption is detected with ease if the issues of responsibility and accountability are clearly defined. Due to the use of committees, buyers are exonerated from the responsibility of procurement corruption since they merely recommend within the committee, procurement decisions to an approving authority who is far away from action in most cases. The committee cannot be liable since their opinion is subject to review at a higher level. It is only when professionalism is a buyer’s employment condition that professional negligence can be applied on faulty recommendations. The alternative is application of Section 174 of the Criminal (Codification and Reform) Act where criminal abuse of office is established.
In other cases, the buyer is just but a mere element of the committee and his professional contribution if any, is diluted by the rank and file of committee members. In this case, the problem of procurement corruption will not lie with the buyer’s remit. Whilst committee members are assumed to be at the same level, formal reporting structures within the organisation cannot be ignored thereby diluting the transparency element that committees seek to achieve.
The other issue that vindicates the buyer from procurement corruption is the fact that procurement decisions are done at a higher levels in most organisations. This reduces everyone making procurement decisions including the CEO to a buyer in the organisation. There is also potential influence of politicians that has an effect on the level of procurement corruption. Control of the public procurement office may be influenced by political relationships. Governments in sitting may be toppled using commerce through public procurement proceeds funding the opposition without their knowledge.
The procurement cycle starts from need identification to the payment of supplier or delivery of goods or services, depending on which one comes first. Procurement regulations are limited to the oversight of the selection and award process that involves the invitation and evaluation of bids and the contract award. Other sources of corruption includes but are not limited to the design of technical specifications that are twitched to favour suppliers and the post award matters such as customs and transport costs management that can be a source of corruption in a procurement process.
The manner in which the laws are designed can become a source of procurement corruption. The desire to achieve transparency to eliminate abuse of discretion is at tangent with the desire to achieve value for money procurement that requires use of discretion to judge minor deviations in bids. There are some deviations in tender procedures that do not affect the responsiveness of the bid in relation to the value perceived out of the procurement. Some minor deviations are non-value adding and good administration would consider such bids responsive as long as they are not material.
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Transparent systems set straight jacket procurement systems that removes discretion and flexibility leading to strict evaluation of bids. Compliancy procurement is not necessarily the best procurement taking into account the value for money principle that it disregards. These issues then affect regulatory measures to manage corruption in public procurement.
Enshrining professionalism in procurement laws will assist in achieving effectiveness on the balance of transparency and value for money in procurement.
l Nyasha Chizu is a Fellow of the CIPS writing in his personal capacity. Feedback: [email protected]; Skype: nyasha.chizu
