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Felex Share Senior Reporter
Companies and individuals will not be allowed to trade with Government if they are not registered with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, previously known as the State Procurement Board.

Further, bidders are now only allowed to submit company registration documents as opposed to the previous requirements that demanded numerous credentials.

This is part of the new public procurement and disposal of public assets regulations issued by Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa last Friday as Government moves to bring efficiency in the country’s procurement system.

The move will also enhance the ease of doing business. The new rules, contained in Statutory Instrument 5 of 2018, also allows Government to legally engage individuals as consultants. The disbandment of the SPB will now see the awarding of tenders being done by accounting officers in various State departments and companies.

The new authority will only play a supervisory and monitoring role to ensure Government entities complied with the new standards. PRAZ acting chief executive Mr Nyasha Chizu said the set standards modernised and professionalised public procurement.

“It is now a requirement that all public sector suppliers are registered with the authority,” he said.

“The registration in terms of Section 4 provides eligibility to bid and be awarded contracts by procuring entities. Previously, suppliers for low value procurement only were required to register.

“The new requirement is similar to the ‘know your customer’ in the banking sector. The requirements for registration have been streamlined. Bidders are only required to submit company registration documents as opposed to the previous requirements that demanded numerous credentials.”

Mr Chizu said the authority was required by the new Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (PPDPA) to develop and implement a transparent and equitable framework for registration of bidders and contractors.

“The spirit of this provision is to ensure that the public sector achieves value for money in procurement,” he said.

“There was an outcry that the public sector was promoting tenderprenuers, who were good at compiling tender requirements and charging exorbitant prices, eroding the capacity of Government to provide affordable quality services.

“In order to ensure that the public sector achieves value for money in a transparent and equitable manner, section 47 of the PPDPA Act allows procuring entities to request for company registration documents or credentials of a historical nature if they were not provided at the close of tender. Bidders are now, on request in writing by the procuring entity, required to submit the missing documents with two days of the request.”

Mr Chizu added: “The authority is now registering companies. The companies only need to submit memos and articles of association and other constitutive documents of the company that includes certificate of incorporation, list of directors, address and details showing the extent of Zimbabwean and foreign shareholding of the company.

“Partnerships, syndicates or other business entities also need to register to participate in bidding or award of contracts.”