Chaos In Parliament Over US$9K/Laptop Tender
There was chaos on Tuesday 27 September 2022 during a session of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (PAC) on a tender to Blinart Investments to supply laptops at US$9 000 each.
Parliament Clerk, Kennedy Chokuda, and his delegation were answering questions pertaining to the tender.
Chokuda confirmed that Parliament had awarded the tenders to the two companies (Blinart Investments and Mid-End Computers and Hardware) after exhausting all the procurement requirements but still cancelled the tenders, after public outrage.
During deliberations, PAC committee members had a verbal exchange accusing each other of either protecting the Parliament administration or helping in the concealment of crucial information meant to nail management over the “shady deal.”
According to Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) MP Charlton Hwende, the deal was only cancelled by Treasury after a losing bidder unearthed the scam, exposing Parliament.
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He said Bhebhe (Parliament director Procurement) lied to the committee that he did not visit the companies involved yet in his report earlier, had confirmed that Parliament did visit the companies to verify their locations for authenticity purposes.
Mliswa read letters written by Chokuda confirming the awarding of the tender to the two companies.
He condemned Chokuda and told him to “Pack your bags and go!” saying he was responsible for the messy.
He also accused some ZANU PF MPs in the committee (Marko Raidza, Mberengwa East and Berta Chikwama, Gutu East) of supporting the Parliament administration to disrupt proceedings.
Committee chairperson and MDC Alliance MP Brian Dube warned members that he would not be forced to adjourn the meeting prematurely adding that no one was going to be chased out of the meeting and the discussion would continue “until we finish.”
Information Communication Technology (ICT) director, Theresa Kamvura told PAC that the organisation was looking for an HP Spectate- H360, which is a 360 ex-convertible touch-screen gadget that can function as a tablet or a laptop.
It was considered to be convenient in carrying out the expected work, including fieldwork by Parliament staffers.
However, Kamvura admitted the prices of the quoted gadgets in the tender were far too much than those offered by most companies on the market.
