Deputy Minister of Finance, Hamad Chande, has instructed government procurement officers to exclusively use the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST) for all public procurement activities and to ensure they are familiar with the module for submitting complaints through the system.

These instructions from the Deputy Minister underscore the requirements of the Public Procurement Act of 2023, which will officially come into effect on July 1 of this year.

Chande issued these directives on May 29, 2024, in Dar es Salaam, while inaugurating a training session on the complaint submission module via the NeST System. The training was organized by the Public Procurement Appeals Authority (PPAA) in collaboration with the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) for employees from the regions of Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Morogoro, and Pwani.

“PPAA, in collaboration with PPRA, must ensure that adequate training and understanding of this new module for electronically receiving and handling complaints from tenderers is provided, to help the government to attain value for money in various projects,” Deputy Minister Chande stated.

Previously, the Executive Secretary of PPAA, Mr. James Sando, noted that the implementation of the complaint submission module through the NeST System will enhance efficiency and reduce the time taken to handle complaints. He mentioned that this step is also a result of the changes introduced in the Public Procurement Act of 2023.

Additionally, PPRA Coastal Zone Manager, Ms. Vicky Mollel, representing the Director General of the Authority, presented on the development of the NeST System. She stated that the Sixth Phase Government continues to support the Authority in developing the system, and alongside the modules for registration, process management, and complaint handling, they are also working on developing an e-contract module.

She urged tenderers and procuring entities to continue communicating with PPRA to receive timely services, including visiting the Coastal Zone Office located in the Treasury Building, Dar es Salaam. She also mentioned that if they encounter any challenges, they can contact the Authority through the customer service number 0736494948 and email support@nest.go.tz.