MSD procurement officers face the axe for lack of qualifications

Dar es Salaam. One week after Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa ordered a special investigation into how some procurement officials at the Medical Stores Department (MSD) were employed without holding relevant academic credentials, a body that regulates the conduct of procurement professionals has finally spoken out.
The Procurement and Supplies Professionals and Technicians Board (PSPTB) executive director, Mr Godfred Mbanyi, said yesterday that it was about time that all employers respected the profession by removing all people who are not qualified to work in such departments.
“All employers are required to remove from the procurement and supply unit all unqualified officers in accordance with the law….They should ensure that all heads of the procurement and supply units are qualified as required under the PSPTB registration categories,” said Mr Mbanyi
Mr Mbanyi said the PSPTB has found that there were still employers who were hiring people to do procurement and supply tasks in contravention with the law.
He noted that audits by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) and reports by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) have revealed that the law was being violated in the sense that some procurement units of some government entities were being headed by people without professional qualifications.
The hiring of non-professionals, he said, was to blame for some of the identified serious shortcomings public procurement, resulting into losses to the government.
“All professionals working in the procurement and supply unit are required to ensure that they work in accordance with the values of their profession in accordance with PSPTB Code of Ethics and Conduct in line with Government Notice Number.365/2009,” he said.
Furthermore, Mr Godfred has also instructed the private and public sector procurement and supply experts to work professionally and to provide advice without fear in order to get the value of money.
When he visited MSD offices in Dar es Salaam last week, Premier Majaliwa also established that some 16 employees in the procurement department at the institution did not qualify for the job.
“It is surprising that 16 people in the procurement department are pharmacists. I direct the Health ministry and the new MSD leadership to shift them to the department that they deserve,” ordered Mr Majaliwa.