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The evolution of the procurement profession on the Zambian financial market has exceedingly exceeded expectations from the 2003 hitherto. With the repealingof the Zambia Tender Board Act (ZNTB) (1982) to the Public Procurement Act (2008), the profession under discussion has enjoyed a fresh breath of respect that notwithstanding, a lot of structural and administrative reforms, as evidenced from the interests and comments that boarder of this sacred and delicate profession hasattracted, need to be brought on board for value addition to be attained in the supply chain.
The voices that speak whenever a procurement scandal erupts signifies the importance and relevance of the tax payer’s money that has been disbursed for use and benefit of the general populace. The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ), through the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) whose forerunner is the ZNTB, has issued sufficient guidelines, through its circular publications, on such reforms that signals that the profession under discussion is indeed undergoing major transformation and recognition.
The need to modernize the Procurement Entities (PEs) with modernelectronic facilities and gadgets to run the system usingthe famous and popular Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and the most recent Electronic Government System (EgP), is a case in point on how much respect and credence offered to the procurement profession in the Zambia supply chain system.
It is however worth bring to light that am of the idea that more recognition and respect be accorded to the sacred profession if we are to curtal the wastefulness (MUDA) that has affected both the public sector, and public sectors, as evidenced by the numerous cases brought before the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC), the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) and other oversight organs of the Government.
This article serves to promote the voice and the need for constitutional changes that shall speak to the establishment of the office of the Procurement General (PG), as the case is with the Accountant General, the Attorney General, the Auditor General and lastly, though by no means the least, the office of the Solicitor General.
This call has before been made by eminent, seasoned and experienced procurement experts but I remember writing about this subject matter in 2018 and the Zambia Daily Mail, under the editorship of a Mr. Benedict Tembo, was magnanimous enough to have it published in the tabloid.
The call for the establishment of the office stated herein could not have come at a better time than this when the Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply (ZIPS), with Mr. Daniel Kabamba at the helm, has strived so hard to create an enabling environment with all the stakeholders in the chain and the Government of the Republic of Zambia.
While we appreciate the important role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the development of Zambia’s economy, it is important to note that ideas, such as this one, shall go a long way in enhancing the economic development of this great nation. The need to reduce MUDA begins with the need to recognize the importance of procurement and the attainment of the organizational Mission Statement, and its vision, in addition to the set out Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
I have taken keen interest in re reading the principal Act in the Public Procurement Act of 2008 under Section 12 and from that outset, the formulators of that piece of legislation thought it prudent to encourage both the private and the public sectors to employ qualified and competent people in procurement to take up procurement roles.
The status quo needs to be respected and ZIPS has set its eyes on bringing about sanity in the profession.
As Zambia attains its 60 years of independence on the 24th October 2024, we need to swiftly move in and reflect on the notable achievements and appreciate the success stories that have come out of the journey thus far. We need a very enlightened civil service workforce that is objective enough to bring the best out of its respective minds while screening the best procurement practices around the world. David Hansom, an associate at Eversheds Sutherlands, wrote an article in the 2014 1st April Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) journal in which he talked about the promotion of equality through the lenses of procurement and its infrastructure structures.
It is very clear in that article that our colonial masters have invested so much in the promotion of equal treatment and ideas that speak to diversity, and that procurement has been used as that important tool in spearheading that agenda I am left with no doubt that the Public Procurement Actof 2023 shall carry on with the same mantle and spirit as the case has been with the Public Procurement Act of 2020. Allie Anderson on page 10 of the same CIPS journal cited herein talks about the role of the procurement personnel in the promotion of the Duty of Care in the supply chain and going by how eloquent and passionate he drives the contents of the write up, one can be left with no duty that every PE, Unit and Department, it be in the private or public sector, needs to employ personnel that is equipped with the wealth of knowledge and skills to anchor in the right directions the operation of any procurement scope of work.
The United Kingdom (UK) has been in the fore front in promoting and respecting the role of the procurement profession and to that effect, a lot of resources have been invested in the promotion of research and development on matters that speak to the relevance of procurement in the public and the private sectors.
In 2014 alone, Chancellor Alistair Darling, amid attacks from the opposition from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, recognized the critical role of the procurement profession in cutting expenses in the UK budget system implementation.
This came at a very critical time when a report by the Institute of Directors (IoD) pinpointed that UK needed to save not less than 25 Billion Pounds annually and that the procurement profession needed to be at the center state of the cost saving strategy. Iam therefore left with no doubt that the Government of the day, under the able leadership of His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, has, as Chancellor Alistair Darling admonished the public sector in 2014, been able to cut un necessary expenditures incurred by renegotiating contracts, cutting spend on consultants and religiously following the ZPPA quarterly published Market Price Index (MPI).
It is, however, the counsel from the then CIPS President and CEO, a Mr. David Noble, that caught my attention on the proposal for appointment of the Minister of Procurement in UK a clear signal for Zambia to accept the establishment of the office of the PG.
It is my humble view that procurement plays a very sacrosanct role in thwarting poor procurement choices, false economies and by and large encourage the formulation of SMART decisions which are capable of avoiding disaster in the long-term run. I thereforecontinue to support the call for the establishment of the office of the PG as a Constitutional office in Zambia.
The profession is as important as the AccountsDirectorate, the office of the learned legal counsels, and therefore speaks with authority on matters that boarders on the promotion of transparency and accountability of financial resources and identification and reduction of waste in the supply chain system.
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