Efficient Execution Is Vital!

There seems to be renewed determination within government circles to alter the dismal performance of public investments in the country, notably public contracts. The decision by stakeholders, under the guidance of the Ministry of Public Contracts, to launch the contract award for the 2021 fiscal year two weeks before the end of 2020 shows a desire for change. 
In effect, those aspiring to compete for public contracts in the country for next year should already be bracing up for the exercise while waiting for the Head of State to promulgate into law the Finance Bill and for the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development to publish the Projects Logbook for 2021. It is said that the December 14, 2020 Public Contracts Award launch set as goal to have all the contracts awarded by April 2021 so as to create time for execution of the projects. Visibly, this is hope-raising. Fruits are needed!
Obviously so as project owners and contractors have in the past tabled varied complaints why this or that project couldn’t be executed on time. Topical has almost always been the late award of contracts and the coming of the rains which often inhibit most projects especially roads. Now that contracts, in principle, will be awarded early, observers and the beneficiary population could begin to think that there shouldn’t be room for poor showing again.
However, it must be said that contracts award is just a step in the long procedure to get projects executed for the improvement in the living conditions of the population. For contracts to be well executed, tender boards need to launch calls and select the best contracting firm. The terms of reference and the selection criteria must as well be clear so that he who wins whatever contract should know what is awaited and be competitive enough to deliver.
All contracting partners must also work as a team and above all be honest enough to follow the procedure as prescribed in the Public Contracts Code and give competitiveness a chance. Past experiences have shown that actors have more or less worked in isolation, sometimes trading accusations and counter-accusations where and when failures set in. Coming up with projects is the duty of the Ministry of the Economy, processing the tender files and awarding contracts is by the Ministry of Public Contracts and paying for their execution is the work of the Ministry of Finance. All of these actors can only conveniently claim to have played their roles once the ...