By Kondwani Magombo
Mangochi, September 25, Mana: Malawi Vice-President, Dr. Saulos Chilima has challenged procurement specialists in the country to ‘sanitize’ the profession by rooting out corruption to save taxpayers’ money.
The Vice-President made the appeal in Mangochi when he officially opened the Malawi Institute of Procurement and Supply (MIPS) 11th Annual Conference at Sunbird Nkopola Holiday Resort.
Chilima called upon the procurement and supply specialists to use the conference as a platform to seriously delve into ways of fighting corruption, especially in the procurement sector.
“We need an open and thorough interrogation to determine the extent of the problem that we have at hand… as a matter of fact, we need a special sanitizer; go and find it,” urged Chilima.
He noted that professional procurement is a catalyst for national development and that as procurement specialists, MIPS members are the people who can bring integrity to both public and private sectors.
The vice-president further said public procurement is a fundamental and crucial component of democratic governance, wealth creation and sustainable governance, hence the need for the specialists to display professionalism in their transactions.
“To put it bluntly, as a country, we need procurement specialists who are disciplined, ethical and corrupt-free,” said Chilima, adding: “We need procurement specialists who are gatekeepers of our resources and not conduits of fraud and corruption.”
He further noted that a well performing public procurement system increases citizens’ confidence in government and private sector competitiveness.
Chilima also urged MIPS to use the conference to discuss how the institute can play a role in the attainment of the country’s national development agenda.
Speaking earlier, MIPS President, Alinafe Malisawa Banda, also urged procurement and supply specialists in the country to work professionally and preserve the integrity of the discipline.
She further called upon MIPS members to ensure that there is efficiency, transparency, accountability, value for money and faithfulness when transacting business so that public resources are not wasted.
“Our profession holds a very vital role in ensuring that the country procures goods, services and works that benefit taxpayers’ money, reduces waste of resources and time, and builds reliable and respected process,” Banda said.
According to Minister of Trade and Industry, Sosten Gwengwe, the procurement and supply profession has an enormous responsibility in the management of public resources as it manages about 75 per cent of the country’s national budget.
Renowned Kenyan motivational speaker and former Director of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, Prof. Patrick Lumumba was guest speaker at the MIPS Annual Conference.
