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The Office of the Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) says many governments across the world appreciate the need to have proper procurement procedures because a lot of money has previously been lost due to dubious procurement systems.
Director of Public Procurement Bright Mangulama said this in Mzuzu last Thursday after opening a two-day workshop for Northern Region-based journalists on public procurement reporting.
“Procurement has become the centre of attention in functional democracies all over the world. This is so because most governments now realise significant financial losses arising from unregulated and poorly monitored procurement transactions,” he said.
Mangulama said although his office is only two years old, it has made a lot of success in its operation which it wants to consolidate using the media.
He admitted that procurement issues are too technical in nature for a common man to understand saying that was the reason his office decided to train journalists so that they can effectively communicate to the masses.
“A good number of Malawians are illiterate and the media, as literate and privileged communicators, has an enormous challenge to simplify complex issues [to the people],” Mangulama said.
He advised the journalists not to concentrate on reporting political issues only but also on procurement which he noted would help reduce corruption and fraud in government and private institutions.
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