FAQ Category: Offences & Penalties

Yes, there will be an independent mechanism for whistleblowing where you can report issues of wrongful dismissals as it pertains to breaches of the Act or any other related issue which may result in an investigation by the Office.

Section 40(a) provides that a person shall not be dismissed, suspended, demoted, disciplined, harassed, denied a benefit or otherwise negatively affected because –(a) he, acting in good faith and on the basis of a reasonable belief, has –(i) notified the DPP, the Police, the Integrity Commission or the Office that his employer or any other …

What safety measures are in place for refusing to conduct any procurement activity that is in contravention of the Act for persons that perform the duties of a Procurement Officer but is not the ‘Named’ Procurement Officer? Read More »

According to section 27 (1) (a) of the Act a procuring entity shall publish on its website or any other electronic format, information regarding all planned procurement activities for the following twelve months, no later than six (6) weeks after the approval of the National Budget. Therefore, you are required to indicate in your plan …

With reference to estimation and value of procurement, section 32(1) of the Act, what exactly is splitting of procurement? Read More »

The Act defines bid rigging as “collusion between persons for the purpose of manipulating the proceedings”. As such, the Procurement Officer is strongly advised against manipulating any public procurement or disposal process to achieve a particular outcome. In accordance with section 60 of the Act, “a person who is involved in or participates in bid …

How should the Procurement Officer treat with restricting an award of a contract to suppliers/contractors based on instructions? Read More »

Section 59 of the Act addresses conduct influencing public officers. Specifically, section 59(7) states that “where aprocuring entity is satisfied that an inducement was offered, or any corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive or obstructive practice was carried out in relation to a tender or proposal, the procuring entity shall reject or revoke the tender or proposal …

Are there any provisions under The Act to address breaches by Suppliers/Contractors? Read More »

Section 46 of the Act states that “No person shall withhold, conceal, destroy or refuse to produce any book, record or document required for the purpose of an examination or investigation under this Act”. The Procurement Officer and the Accounting Officer are responsible for ensuring that the records for procurement proceedings are maintained for audit …

Is responsibility assigned to a specific person for the keeping of procurement documents for auditing purposes? What is the result of non-production of documents and how does the OPR determine who is liable if the said documents are not produced? Read More »

Section 61(3) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act 2015 (as amended) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) states that “a reference in this Act to the commission of an offence by a public body shall be construed as a reference to the commission of an offence by the procurement officer referred …

Can you clarify if the penalties attached when breaching the Act are attached to the Procurement Officer alone? Read More »