The National Assembly last night took the decision to defer the second reading of the Procurement (Amendment) Bill for up to six months so as to give time for the parties to reach agreement on a number of points including the setting up of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).
The Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2013 is meant to allow for Cabinet to retain its role in the procurement process by deleting a clause in the principal Act – the Procurement Act of 2003 which stipulates that Cabinet’s role in public procurement will fade away with the coming into existence of the PPC.
The National Assembly had on June 19, 2003 passed the Procurement Act and had included an amendment which sought to remove the role of Cabinet from the process. However of late the PPP/C said that there was no Cabinet approval for the insertion of the amendment which said that once the PPC came
