Economists and legal experts have raised concerns about exempting state-owned entities from the public procurement law, saying the move could create fertile ground for corruption, mismanagement and lack of parliamentary oversight.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week gazetted Public Notice No. 164B of 2024, which exempts 21 public bodies from compliance with the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.
The entities include the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Commercial Bank of Asia, Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe, TelOne, Kuvimba Mining House, among others.
“This means that they do not have to follow the tender procedures as stipulated in the law.
“This will reduce transparency in the dealings of these companies. Already there has been a lot of ambiguity regarding the Mutapa Fund.
“This makes it worse,” said economist Trust Chikohura.
Legal expert Tendai Biti said the president violated the Constitution, which is the highest law in the country.
“No law can be passed that contradicts that,” Beatty said.
Therefore, the president does not have the legal right to suspend the constitution, which requires transparency.
“We demand fairness, openness and competitiveness regarding procurement.
“You should also be aware that the public or place of public hearing has the right under sections 60 and 61 to obtain any information about or in the possession of the State or Parliament House, including information relating to dispositions or acquisitions.”
He added: “So the right to freedom of information once again overrides the attempt to hide information.”
“You must also remember that Article 119 of the Constitution gives Parliament power over every board and institution.
“Parliament can scrutinize every organization and institution in Zimbabwe.
“This particular instrument poses a threat to subvert the powers of Parliament. In short, it is not legally possible, and it is not legally competent.
“But more importantly, in a situation where Zimbabwe now ranks very low on Transparency International’s Global Corruption Index, this reinforces the fact that we are trapped in the country and that we suffer from serious governance issues.”
Beatty said it was also unfortunate that the tool was being prepared while the IMF team was in Zimbabwe for annual two-week Article IV consultations.
“So you are telling the IMF and the world that we do not care about governance issues.
“We don’t care about the rule of law. We don’t care about constitutionalism,” he said.
Victor Buroma, an economist, said it was necessary to ensure transparency in the disposition or transactions of public assets because they were national resources, adding that the Auditor General had, in the past 10 years, discovered massive flaws in corporate governance and loss of state resources. When procedures are not followed.
Economist Stephenson Dlamini said: “I suspect the reason behind the exemption is to facilitate a smoother flow of the decision-making process by eliminating delays caused by the bureaucratic nature of the public procurement process.
“This aims to improve adaptability and the ability to respond faster to changing market dynamics.”
However, Dlamini said this could lead to potential abuse of privilege by some institutions and thus undermine corporate governance.
“This may lead to less transparency and accountability, which may harm the principle of value for money in procurement,” he said.
“However, we hope that the relevant authorities will use this exemption to improve efficiency and competitiveness.”
Another economist, Prosper Chitambara, said there were pros and cons to such a move. The pros are the fact that decision-making becomes faster because these entities will not be subject to regulatory requirements under public procurement and disposal of public assets.
“So, I would say maybe that’s an advantage.
He added: “But of course, the negatives relate to concerns about transparency and accountability, which are fundamental pillars in terms of the governance of any institution.”
“Transparency and accountability regarding public procurement and disposal of public assets is a big issue.
“So, I think we need to look at it from that balanced perspective.” The government may be trying to ensure decisions are made more quickly.
“But this also comes at the expense of those concerns about transparency and accountability.” standard
