Parlt amends three laws

PARLIAMENT has heard that all procurements up to K50 million are now open to national companies compared with K10 million previously.
This follows the passage of three bills introduced by Finance and Rural Development Minister Sir John Pundari yesterday.
These are the National Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2021, Public Finances (Management (Amendment) Bill 2021 and District Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2021.
According to Sir John, the amendments were part of the bigger Public Financial Management Reform on how the country conducted its procurement in the country.
“These changes will help us remove bottlenecks but not remove the accountability and ensure projects/programmes are not delayed,” he said.
Sir John said the amendments were aimed at trimming down bottleneck processes and to improve and address some of the limitations imposed on procurement mechanisms faced by government agencies at the national and sub- national levels.
Sir John stressed that the delays resulted in funds for districts and provinces valued at K2 billion lying idle in the public purse.
The National Procurement (Amendment) Bill was passed 86-7, Public Finances (Management (Amendment) Bill 2021 was passed 90-3 and District Development Authority (Amendment) Bill was passed 87-7.
Sir John also noted that the procurement thresholds for all public and statutory bodies had increased.
He said the revised procurement thresholds took into account the current costs of doing businesses in the country and competency of local businesses.
He added that this also enhanced the opportunity for local and international companies to participate in the government’s procurement space.
Parliament has been adjourned until Oct 12 at 2pm.