Finance Ministry Cancels Payments To Govt Departments Over Inflated Prices

The Finance Ministry says it cancelled payments to government departments for goods procured last year after receiving a tip-off that most of them had inflated prices, NewsDay reported citing a government official.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday to speak on the Parliament of Zimbabwe laptops tender saga, Norbert Machinjike, the director of expenditure management in the Finance Ministry said:

We then issued a circular directed to all ministry departments and agencies indicating that Treasury was suspending all payments pending undertaking of due diligence in the procurements of various goods and services as there was a note that there was overpricing and inflated pricing.

Treasury responded to the anonymous letter in the interest of safeguarding public resources, because from the letter, there was a requirement that all the contracts should be reviewed.

Machinjike said the letter was not written to Parliament alone but was a requirement that all contracts should be reviewed.

He said the Finance ministry would come up with a framework to ensure that ministries and government agencies do not overpay suppliers for goods and services they procure.

• Blinart Investments Defends US$9 000 Per Laptop Price
• List Of Companies That Submitted Bids For Laptops Tender Awarded To Blinart At US$9K Each

The Parliament tender was for the supply of 173 laptops that were deemed overpriced by the Finance ministry at US$9 200 each.

Clerk of Parliament, Kennedy Chokuda had authorised the US$1 602 755 tender, which was won by Bilnart Investments P/L.

Another company, Mid-End Computers and Hardware, was also contracted to supply 79 desktop computers, also overpriced at US$3 000 each.

The tender was then cancelled in a letter dated September 23 after a public outcry.

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