GRTU has taken note of information that came out today concerning a case related to the procurement process of a public tender. Such episodes shed a bad light and instill doubts on the good governance and transparency of the public procurement systems.

Although GRTU positively notes the decision to reverse this ‘illegal’ intervention, GRTU however expresses its disappointment on the fact that bidders had to resort to the avenues of appeal in order to protect and safeguard their interest.

CEO Abigail Mamo said that ‘A small business would have simply given up and would end up losing on what is his due to irregularities and inconsistencies. Fighting such unfairnesses is more taxing on the smaller businesses that have limited resources to pour into legal remedies.’

GRTU therefore notes that a fool-proof mechanism should be in place to monitor these irregularities and pro-actively avoid such situations. Systems must be applied across the board and any such human intervention prohibited.

GRTU insists that such cases must be thoroughly investigated and the root of the issue uncovered in a transparent manner and resolved through actions and penalties for all parties involved in any wrongdoing. Apart from prohibiting, the system cannot allow any kind of leniency in such grave circumstances and clear messages need to be given on the repercussions and lack of tolerance of such actions.