Procurement law to incorporate special groups

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is set to amend the Public Procurement Act so as to increase more opportunities for special groups to benefit from Government spending.

This was revealed on June 16, 2023 by the Manager of Research and Documents from the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), Mr Masunya Nashon during the launch of a report that highlights the obstacles facing women-led businesses in Tanzania.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr Masunya said that 65-70 percent of the budget money is spent in procurement, therefore, this huge amount of money should reach all groups in society.

Due to some groups not capable of withstanding the competition, Mr Masunya said that the Public Procurement Act forces public institutions to set aside 30 percent of their procurement budget for special groups of women, youth and the disabled.

"It is important for the public institutions to build capacity for special groups so that they see the opportunities available for them. We have been emphasizing that to increase the participation of those groups," said the manager.

He further noted that there are some institutions that cannot get that 30 percent due to the type of activities they do and the ability of the groups to supply, however, he said that they are insisting on institutions with normal tasks to involve these groups to a large extent.

"The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has had a campaign to mobilize the public in various regions. We understand that greater understanding is needed but the challenge is on finances," said Mr Masunya.

Mr Masunya added that out of 184 councils, they have been able to reach only 29 councils where 1,481 people have benefited from the education they provided. This, he insists, is a small number and that they need to reach all councils in the country.

For her part, the Evaluation and Analysis Coordinator from the Africa Freedom of Information Center (AFIC), Ms Charity Komujjurizi has touched on the importance of the 30 percent set aside by the Government to affect the businesses of individual women instead of a group as the law requires.

"The creation of groups to meet the requirements of the law is one of the challenges for women, they have to find each other to work together. I think that individual women's businesses that have been successful should be given loans or jobs so that they can benefit without waiting for groups," said Ms Charity.

Mr Joel Ntile, a researcher from The Chanzo Initiative Institute which has conducted a research on the part of Tanzania, has said that they have found out that women's participation in those opportunities is caused by either women themselves due to lack of understanding or restrictions imposed by Government Institutions.

"We have found that the percentages that should be set aside by public institutions are not set aside, for example in the 2021 budget, more than Sh21 trillion went to use, but only Sh600 million was set aside. That amount does not reach 30 percent, it is 0.002 percent," said Ntile.