Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Debra Matabvu, Harare Bureau
THE Government will this year introduce new procurement regulations to address inflated prices and project delays whilst also enhancing the efficiency and quality of infrastructure projects across key sectors.
Over the past few years, billions of dollars are estimated to have been lost due to corruption in public procurement, leading to the arrest of several accounting officers.
The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) will now chair inter-ministerial committees that will spearhead the procurement process, co-ordination and implementation of infrastructure projects in five key sectors of the economy — health; education; transport; housing; water and sanitation.
The inter-ministerial committees will include officials from parent ministries, as well as the Ministries of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion; and Local Government and Public Works; and local authorities.
Parties would spearhead procurement processes, vetting of contractors, co-ordination, implementation, timelines, monitoring and evaluation of various infrastructure projects across the country.
In essence, the new system is part of the value-for-money exercise that was introduced in 2022 to prevent suppliers from inflating prices of goods and services supplied to Government ministries, departments and agencies.
The exercise was introduced after the authorities established that some contractors had been fleecing the Government by inflating invoices and channelling payments to the parallel market, resulting in currency volatility and inflation.
According to the 2025 Infrastructure Investment Programme report gleaned by our Harare Bureau, the Government said there was need for due diligence from the tendering to the implementation process to ensure quality and timely delivery of national projects and services.
“Whilst Government thrust has always prioritised promotion of local resources, including contractors, in service delivery, it is critical that our procurement processes yield the best outcomes in terms of quality, as well as turnaround times,” the report said in part.
“Experiences over the last few years evidently reflect the urgent need to tighten our procurement processes to ensure effective due diligence in the bidding and evaluation processes to guarantee quality and timely delivery of services.
“Consistent with the above and noting the increased poor performance by some service providers, the blacklisting approach of contractors will further be enforced whilst penalty clauses in contracts will be invoked.
“Furthermore, and to enhance project execution, benefitting from project delivery architecture invoked during implementation of SADC (Southern African Development Community) projects, co-ordination and implementation mechanisms for some key projects will be spearheaded through inter-ministerial committees chaired by the Office of the President and Cabinet consistent with the Whole-of-Government approach and integrated project development approach.”
It is envisaged that this will ensure that all stakeholders become more aggressive and attentive to project delivery milestones, timelines and resource requirements.
Economist and member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Monetary Policy Committee Mr Persistence Gwanyanya, said the new system will guarantee efficiency from procurement up to completion of a project.
“It is all in the spirit of ensuring efficiency in the construction of an infrastructure project and a continuation of the value-for-money concept, which Government has been implementing and has yielded results,” he said.
In 2022, the Government withheld payments and blacklisted several companies, including travel agencies, food and beverages suppliers and computer and hospitality industry players, which were providing goods and services to Government ministries, departments and agencies.
A Government audit during the same year revealed that some firms were quoting a kilogramme (kg) of economy beef for US$18,45 and a kg of chicken for US$12, while those in the tourism sector were quoting US$89 for breakfast alone.
The value-for-money exercise has seen the Government introducing a national pricing index to guide public sector institutions on price ceilings in all procurement categories.
The intervention is believed to have saved the authorities millions of dollars.
