By Sallieu S. Kanu Â
The Independent Procurement Review Panel (IPRP) on Friday urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) to adhere to public procurement laws to avoid evaluation processes that are not in tune with the 2016 Public Procurement Acts and Statutory Regulations, 2020.
The Panel said in its ruling that there is need for proper documentation of processes and training of staff of the foreign ministry on public procurement issues.
#The ruling came following a complaint filed by Fayia Unity Garage to the Independent Procurement Review Panel (IPRP) alleging irregularities in a procurement process.
Based on the summary of facts, the MoFAIC advertised a bid in local newspapers, requesting for a framework contract for the supply of Spare Parts and Maintenance of Vehicles (Lot 1).
The Appellant submitted a bid expressing interests in executing the task, and the complainant was notified by the procuring entity that he was unsuccessful during the evaluation stage.
The procuring entity cited poor maintenance of vehicles as well as during the cause of repairs seven vehicles had been grounded among were VIP vehicles.
The appellant claimed that his garage was providing similar service to the MoFAIC for which he had never defaulted and was baffled to receive a notification letter from the procurement Committee that his garage was unsuccessful.
The Appellant filed in a protest letter to the procuring entity expressing their dissatisfaction of the outcome of the evaluation process, claiming that the MoFAIC only responded to their letter after the mandated five-day period has elapsed.
A day hearing was held for both parties in the said matter and panel ruled that the Appellant was not successful during the evaluation process on the bases of failing a technical assessment, rather he was evaluated on an alleged damaged vehicles which had no bearing to the bid requirement.
The Panel established that the Appellant’s garage space can only house eight vehicles at a time and the recommended winner of the bid had a more spacious garage; and that the roads leading to the Appellant garage was not in good condition.
Furthermore, the Panel finds that the Appellant had all documents required, coupled with his lowest bid, but was evaluated on the status of his garage. It is evident that his garage is not spacious even though he has been providing services of maintenance and supply of spare parts since 2016 without query.
The Panel therefore recommends for the MOFAIC to proceed with the contract and award the winner.
The Independent Procurement Review Panel is a creation of section 65 (1) of the Public Procurement (PPA) No.10 of 2016. The IPRP is charged with the responsibility to review complains/appeals from dissatisfied bidders about decision of a procuring entity.