Tender committees struggle to fill posts
Isaac Pinielo | Wednesday October 25, 2017 13:40
The understaffing, according to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, is a challenge, as out of a total of 33 only 16 are filled up.
Speaking yesterday at a capacity building workshop for DATCs, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Kebonye Moepeng said the challenge that the ministry has been facing is the non-availability of skilled procurement candidates who are willing to be employed in districts, as well as their demand for better remunerations.
She said the ministry is working around the clock to fill vacant posts, adding that the target is to have appointed secretaries to all DATCs by the end of this financial year.
“In the meantime, my ministry will immediately appoint officers to act as DATC secretaries to assure that DATCs are well facilitated to make timely decisions,” Moepeng said.
She said the role played by the DATC secretaries is critical, as they are expected to provide support and technical guidance to the committee as a full-time position. She commended DATC secretaries who have been servicing more than one committee, noting that the ministry is now committed to ensuring that vacant positions are filled so that the secretaries may focus on their own DATCs.
Moepeng further acknowledged the constraints facing DATCs such as limited transport to conduct site visits, lack of proper office accommodation for storage of records, inadequate information and communications technology (ICT) equipment and internet connectivity to support e-bidding to facilitate the work of DATCs.
“These issues are receiving attention and we hope to address them progressively depending on funding availability,” she said.
She indicated that her ministry would continue to collaborate with ministries such as Transport and Communications and Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet) to ensure that appropriate ICT infrastructure and bandwidth are provided.
She said this would include acquisition of computers and laptops to facilitate the offices of the DATC secretariats. Moepeng advised DATC members to undertake random site visits to assess if execution of projects is in line with the award decisions they made, adding that site visit reports and recommendations on corrective action should be forwarded to procuring entities for action.
“I therefore urge DATCs to consider utilising vehicles already available within other government departments for DATC assignments.”