PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AUDIT IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

By: Gerald U.G. Mabveka

Public procurement is an activity that is implemented through the expenditure of
funds in the procurement of goods, services and works to be used by the governm
ent. In financial management, the institutions that have spent the funds have to
be audited to establish if the funds were spent as intended. On a different poi
nt, procurement activities have to be audited to establish if the spending insti
tution complied with procurement legislations. This activity is call procurement
audit. This article highlights how procurement audit is done in different Afric
an countries. It also discusses some of the important points that have to be par
t of the public procurement law on the issue of procurement audit.
In Zambia the Public Procurement Act 2008 (PPA) gives the Procurement Authority
the powers to conduct procurement audit. In the PPA 2008 section 6 (2) (f) says
the authority;
commission and undertake investigations in public procurement matters and instit
ute procurement audits.
In Uganda, procurement audit is done at different levels. In the Public Procurem
ent and Disposal of Public Assets Act 2003 (PPDAA 2003) part II (j) the Public P
rocurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority is empowered to institute pro
curement audit at the following levels;
I. Procurement of disposal audits during the bid preparatory process
II. Contract audits in the course of the execution of an awarded bid;
III. Performance audit after the completion of the contract in respect of any
procurement or disposal, as may be required
In Nigeria, the Public Procurement Act 2007 empowers the Bureau of Public Procur
ement (BPP) to conduct procurement audit. Under the function section article (p)
of their Public procurement Act 2007, the bureau;
Perform procurement audits and submits such report to the National Assembly bi-a
nnually;
In Botswana, the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board is not empowered to
undertake procurement audit. In the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2
001 Section 79 says;
The Auditor-General, in exercise of his powers under the Cap. 54:01 Finance and
Audit Act may initiate audits at any point of the procurement or disposal cycle,
such as during the bid preparatory process (tender audit), in the course of the
execution of an awarded bid (contract audit), and after the procurement, when b
ids have been completely delivered by the contractors (performance audit).
The Act gives a detailed process of procurement audit in sections 77 to 82 of th
e Act. This includes who should conduct the audit exercise, reporting procedures
and implementation of the recommendations made at the end.

In Ghana, the Public Procurement Authority is not empowered to conduct procureme

nt audit according to Public Procurement Act 2003. In Section 91 of the Act, the
Auditor General is empowered to audit all the procurement activities. The secti
on says;
(1) The Auditor-General shall conduct annual audits of the procurement a
ctivities
of entities and shall furnish copies of reports on the audits to the Board upon
request from the Board.
(2) The Auditor-General shall also carry out specific audits into the procuremen
t
activities of entities and compliance by contractors, suppliers and consultants
with the procurement requirements in this Act and regulations made under this Ac
t at the request of the Board.
(3) The statutory audit of procurement activities may be relied upon by the Boar
d
to institute measures to improve the procurement system.
In Kenya, the Public Procurement Oversight Authority has not been empowered to c
onduct procurement audit. Rather it is the Controller and Auditor General under
Section 49 (1) (b) of Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005. The section says
;
the Controller and Auditor-General, or an auditor authorised by the Controller a
nd Auditor-General, may audit the accounts of the procuring entity and contracto
r relating to the contract and the procuring entity and contractor shall co-oper
ate with and assist whoever does such an audit.
Finally, in Malawi, the Public Procurement Act 2003 empowers the Auditor General
to conduct procurement audit. In Section 39 of Public Procurement Act 2003, it
says;
Procurement activities shall be subject to regular auditing by the Auditor Gener
al to ensure that public funds are expended for their intended purpose, and with
a view to maximizing value received by the public purchaser, ensuring that prop
er and accountable systems are in place and adhered to, and identifying any weak
nesses in procurement
The preceding presentation has shown that different countries conduct procuremen
t audit differently. However, it could be discovered that the exercise is paramo
unt to the achievement of primary objectives of public procurement. These includ
e value for money, fair competition, transparency and accountability in the use
of public funds. In addition, the exercise assists countries to identify weaknes
ses of their procurement systems.
However, it has been noted that some countries went further to explain how procu
rement audit would be done. For instance, in Botswana the procurement law is mor
e explicit on how it would be conducting the procurement audit. It clearly state
s how the Auditor General and the Head of public procurement body would work in
conducting the exercise. It is very important to clearly come out with the relat
ions in terms of offices that will be working hand in hand to avoid blame shifti
ng which is common in public service.
Secondly, it is important to define the reporting/feedbacking procedure. In Nig
eria and Botswana, they have their public procurement laws detailing the reporti
ng procedure of the audit exercise. For example, in Nigeria, the Bureau has to r
eport to Parliament bi-annually. However, it could be assumed that Finance and A
udit Acts of the respective countries have defined the reporting procedures in a
uditing.
Thirdly, the public procurement law has to be clear on what stage(s) procurement
audit would be conducted. A number of countries sampled have detailed the stage
s procurement audit would be conducted. For example, in Botswana and Uganda, pro
curement audit could be conducted at bid preparatory stage, during execution (co
ntract audit) and after the procurement activity (performance auditing). In Ghan
a, they conduct annual procurement audit and specific ones when need arises. The
Malawian Public Procurement Act 2003 only says that procurement activities woul
d be subjected to regular auditing. The Audit Act defines regular auditing as an
 annual exercise. However, the Auditor General is empowered to carryout audit at
any time.
Fourthly, the issue of cooperation with the Auditor General or hired auditors in
the exercise of procurement audit is critical to be in the public procurement l
aw. This is especially important in those countries where the Auditor General or
hired auditors on behalf of the latter do the procurement audit. There some con
tractors and government official that would hinder the exercise. Therefore, thos
e that are to carry out the exercise have to be empowered by the law. For exampl
e in Malawi, Botswana and Kenya the law clear states that stakeholders have to c
ooperate with those empowered to conduct procurement audit. It is of paramount i
mportance that contractors, suppliers and consultants should know that they can
be visited by auditors during the time they are conducting procurement audit for
a particular procurement entity.
Finally, in almost all the countries, the public procurement law states in one w
ay or the other on how they would discipline those who have been found to contra
vene the law. However, it is good to come out clear on how discipline and enforc
ement measures would be implemented in the way Botswana public procurement law h
as done.
In conclusion, it is of paramount importance that public procurement laws of cou
ntries be clear on a number of issues like; who would conduct procurement audit.
Secondly, the relation of the mainly players in conducting this exercise has to
be clearly defined. Thirdly, the reporting procedures have to be detailed. Four
thly, the stages at which this activity would be conducted have also to be put i
n black and white. Lastly, it is important to include measures that would be car
ried out in order to enforce the recommendations of the procurement audit.