By HELEN ZULU –
THE Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) has started implementing the preferential and reservation schemes in its public procurement system to enable local companies participate effectively in the country’s economic development.
ZPPA principal officer, public relations John Chipandwe, said the authority was currently applying preferential and reservation schemes in the public procurement system to give preference to bids submitted by local companies as a way of promoting economic development of bidding citizens.
Mr Chipandwe said the rationale of the schemes was to promote the empowerment of local citizens that had been marginalised or disadvantaged and whose access to economic resources and development capacity had been constrained.
He was responding to concerns raised last week by the Association of Women in Construction president Dorothy Mulwila that Government should introduce incentives for local people as it implements the Public Procurement Act.
“ZPPA believes that Government has prioritised Zambians and has provided an enabling environment to support local companies that participate in public procurement.
“The authority is, therefore, committed to ensuring that the law is implemented by all stakeholders so that the intended objective of the government is achieved,” he said.
Mr Chipandwe said that the schemes were aimed at substantially increasing the meaningful participation of targeted citizens and companies in the economic activities of the country.
He said the goal of preferential procurement was to ensure that as many Zambian citizens as possible meaningfully participated and won tenders in public procurement.
He emphasised that Zambian owned companies were required to be registered with the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) to be able to participate in the schemes.
Mr Chipandwe said the Public Procurement Regulations also provide for a 15 per cent preference for domestically produced goods.
“Part II of the PPA, Section 6 subsection 2 (i) mandates the authority to formulate preference and reservation schemes to promote the economic development of citizen bidders and suppliers in collaboration with appropriate government institutions,” he said.