By: Joseph Muhozi, Dar es Salaam

The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has taken the initiative of providing awareness on the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST) to civil society organizations in order to equip them with knowledge about features that aid their oversight role in public procurement activities, TPJ can report.

The Chief Executive Officer of PPRA, Eliakim Maswi, told the media after the awareness session in Dar es Salaam recently, that the endeavor involved training on the use of NeST itself followed by a wide-ranging discussion on how to improve the public procurement sector by using the system’s features to monitor activities and take appropriate measures on issues of misconduct observed.

Maswi said that the Authority demonstrated how NeST could enhance transparency and accountability by providing insights into how to access information for monitoring and whistleblowing and stressed the need for sustained awareness among stakeholders and the general public in order to make the public procurement system more widely known.

The Chief Executive Officer further noted that NeST effectively addresses corruption gateways by displaying red flags to prompt timely interventions which, he said, is a proactive approach that enhances PPRA’s ability to safeguard public funds.

He called upon the participants from 31 civil society organisations and non- governmental organisations, to join the government effort in curbing corruption and other misdeeds in the public procurement sector by using the technology that aids their endeavours.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, Dr. Fatuma Kagongo of Global Peace Foundation commended PPRA for involving independent overseers in efforts to promote good governance towards value for money goals.

She acknowledged the significance of the NeST as a tool to enhance transparency, accountability, and attainment of value for money.

"This session was necessary and useful as it will help our role of ensuring that taxpayers’ money is spent effectively and efficiently," said Dr. Kagongo.

 

The NeST, a locally designed and built system that became operational on July 1, 2023, has already seen the upload of Financial Year 2023/24 annual procurement plans  worth 23 trillion Tanzanian shillings, as of December 19, 2023. Over 12,000 tenderers have registered with the system in different business lines.