It has come to the attention of the Board of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) that some Public Procurement Entities find comfort in going ahead with procurement, particularly single source procurement, without prior approval and then seek to avoid the consequence by applying for ratification.
We find this deeply worrying as we consider it a deliberate abuse of the procurement law, Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) as amended, for the simple reason that it provides for ratification.
Procurement entities must note that ratification is rather the exception, not the norm.
Therefore, we wish to serve a strong notice to all Heads of Entities, who, in fact, are the heads of public institutions, that we will no longer countenance such deliberate, flagrant disregard for the PPA’s regulatory authority.
In that regard, Heads of Public Institutions must note that we will not be amenable to such requests for ratification unless upon investigation, we come to the firm conclusion that the omission to seek prior approval to undertake single source or restricted tendering procurement as required by the law was truly unavoidable.