PPDA board for speedy law operationalisation
By Grace Thipa, Contributor:
Directors appointed to the Board of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) got down to business last week when they met executive management to lay the groundwork for collaboration.
The board members include Amos Nyambo, Madalitso M’meta, Constance Musopole and Engineer Martin Chizalema.
The Chief Secretary, Secretary to the Treasury and the Solicitor General or their representatives complete the membership base as ex-officios.
M’meta, who is chairing the team, said the board’s immediate task will be to operationalise the PPDA Act which was passed by Parliament in 2017.
He said the board wants to set up a solid strategic foundation for the authority and manage the functional and structural changes as the law requires.
The PPDA, previously operating as Office of the Director of Public Procurement (ODPP), is in the process of transitioning to a more independent authority responsible for the regulation, monitoring and oversight of procurement and disposal of public assets in Malawi.
M’meta said the authority needs to quickly make use of the avenues for revenue generation as provided for in the new law to ensure that it becomes fully independent.
“An entire institution can be suffocated if it does not have funds for its operations. With inadequate funding, our mission to regulate, monitor and provide oversight will suffer. The regulations that guarantee our financial independence should be prioritised without further delay,” he said.
M’meta said the board would be looking for collaboration and not just cooperation from its secretariat with both sides valuing each other ’s contribution.
Since the enactment of the PPD Act in July 2017, the PPDA has been operating without a substantive director general and deputy director general, a development that promptedted the board to appoint an acting director general, Timothy Kalembo in the interim.
The board has since initiated the process of recruiting the director general and deputy director general for the PPDA.
With the Board now being fully appointed, some statutory decisions such as enforcing penalties for breaches to the new Act will be enforced.
