Public sector entities are guided by the Handbook of Public Procurement Procedures, which embraces good practices and the concepts of value for money in acquiring goods and services for public benefit.  Given the transactional value of procurement activities, it is important that public officers do not treat procurement simply as a routine administrative exercise, but seek to obtain value for money from all purchases of goods and services whilst ensuring fairness and transparency.  The findings of previous audits of public entities revealed that despite compliance with the procurement guidelines, the Government still suffered losses arising from the absence of good governance arrangements, such as planning and monitoring of the contract process.

This audit was conducted to determine if the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MoEYI) planned and conducted its procurement activities whilst embracing good practices to attain value for money. The audit focused primarily on expenditure relating to the purchase of textbooks, school furniture and the repairs, maintenance and construction of school facilities for the period 2013-14 to 2017-18.  The audit concluded that MoEYI’s procurement activities did not always conform with good practices including proper oversight of planning processes in accordance with fiduciary responsibilities to prevent misuse of Government funds and facilitate achievement of value for money.  MoEYI often utilized direct and emergency procurements for school constructions and repairs, which under many circumstances did not constitute emergencies and provided no assurance of cost effectiveness.  MoEYI was also deficient in monitoring the distribution of textbooks and school furniture to schools, which prevented it from reducing waste and maximizing efforts to secure greater value from these expenditures.