By Chisomo Phiri
Business mogul Thomson Mpinganjira has urged procurement specialists in the country to become more efficient in their service delivery as a way of saving money for their institutions.
Mpinganjira made the remarks in Mangochi on Wednesday evening when he officially opened this year’s Malawi Institute of Procurement and Supply (MIPS) annual conference.
He observed that about 70 percent of the total government’s budget is spent through procurement, hence the need to tighten service delivery in the sector.
“Efficiency in procurement would save alot of money which can be channelled towards investment, hence grow our economy.
“With proper service delivery, government or any organisation can save about 20 percent or more of their money,” said Mpinganjira.
In her remarks,MIPS president Miriam Jere warned that the association would not tolerate any members who would be found guilty of acts that are prohibited by the procurement act.
Jere revealed that in the past two years, MIPS has disciplined and reported to authorities about five members who were found guilty of misprocurement.
“We also have some cases which are under investigation at the moment,” she said.
Theme for this year’s conference is, optimising procurement and supply chain management in Malawi; strategies for enhancing productivity and export competitiveness.