The Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) has announced that an E-Procurement Government System will be hosted by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets authority.

PPPC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Audrey Mwala, hailed the upcoming initiative as a means of efficiency. “The system will bring efficiency. It is very easy to lose or alter records that are manual but with an electronic system of this nature it will allow records keeping to be done properly,” Mwala said.

In February this year, a report by the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (Cost) Malawi exposed publicly funded construction projects in Malawi, for having irregularities in procurement. For instance, out of the 4 projects by the Roads Authority were awarded to one locally registered international contractor. According to the report, more research needs to be done as to why one contractor predominates in the road sector.

On the other hand, section 44 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) Act of 2017 states that procurement bids should prioritize 60% indigenous black Malawians and 40% others nationalities, so the system will reveal if the law is being observed.