By Tiofilusi Tiueti, Chief Executive, PASAI; A’eau Agnes Taimane Tuiai-Aruwafu, Director – Technical Support, PASAI; and Sarah Markley, Deputy Secretary-General

In 2019 PASAI released a Regional Report on Public Procurement in the Pacific (Refer to PASAI's Regional report here). The report provides useful information about the procurement lifecycle and the opportunities for auditors involvement. As we now face the challenge of COVID-19 and see our Governments initiate new spending programmes the review of this publication is timely.

The report includes reflections from Auditors-Generals that participated in the programme, where these  SAIs conducted an audit on public procurement practices of selected government agencies.   The key issues highlighted in this report provide a good reminder for us of recurring and all too common challenges in the Pacific region. These challenges are likely to be heightened as COVID-19 puts additional pressure on procurement processes.

The recurring issue identified in the report are: 

·       Lack of procedures and guidance for some aspects of the procurement life-cycle

·       Non-compliance with policy, procedures, and/or legislation 

·       Lack of training in the procurement system and procedures

·       Poor procurement planning and poor record-keeping throughout the procurement life cycle

·       Poor administrative and internal controls surrounding procurement practices

During this time of stress and crisis, public procurement becomes more complex, as the government will require more rapid and efficient procurement during the Coronavirus.  SAIs play an important role to ensure procurement processes are open, compliant, and transparent.   However, there will be rapid changes and emergency procedures being carried out by the government during this time, and SAIs need to be prepared.

Practical ways for SAIs assess emerging issues and risks   

Every SAI, whether large or small, will need to make choices about where to focus their efforts. This means that completing careful and well-structured assessment of the imminent risks posed by this pandemic will position SAIs well to deliver high quality and relevant work. Some practical approaches for SAIs to ensure they are well informed of emerging issues and risks related to pandemic procurement are:

i.   Keep abreast of government directives and specific activities that may relate to changes in procurement processes or the procurement lifecycle. Consider the possible risks of the loss of public funding or misuse of public resources where the changes that are proposed might signal that risks have increased.  Good sources of this information are official government announcements through a press conference, official website, or social media platforms.

ii.   Initiate proactive, meaningful, and ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Finance or related agencies responsible for implementing procurement regulations/instructions. These discussions can help to remind those responsible for risks, and guidance materials available as well as providing support and alerting you to specific areas of concern.

iii.   Keep well-informed of relevant matters being debated in domestic and regional forums relating to public procurement changes or significant activities. What our citizens and frontline workers are concerned about could likely signal risks SAIs should be interested in too. Good sources of this information are local TV and newspapers, relevant local social media, and in our region radio talkback will likely be a good way to assess citizen concerns.  

iv.   Gathering information directly from the public. In particular those SAIs with “Fraud Hotlines” already in place, these might require extra resource if notifications increase significantly. Alternatively setting up resources to receive citizen feedback on concerns can be considered. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has set up a hotline to help combat Fraud under COVID-19 assistance to urge the public to report allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement.US GAO Fraudnet_coronavirus .

Practical ways for SAIs to provide support  

SAI can focus on promoting mechanisms to address the importance of enhancing procurement processes. For example, New Zealand has issued brief guidance on Procurement during a national emergency (AuditNZ National-emergency-procurement). 

The following are some other useful resources which may help you and PASAI may be able to provide further assistance to your clients and/ or stakeholders:

§  https://oag.parliament.nz/2008/procurement-guide/docs/procurement-guide.pdf

§  https://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/48994520.pdf

§  https://www.allenandclarke.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AC_Quick_Guide_Procurement.pdf

§  https://www.open-contracting.org/what-is-open-contracting/covid19/

As mentioned above our regional report highlighted issues identified during public procurement audits completed including audit recommendations cross-cutting themes.  SAIs should reflect on these issues identified and use this opportunity during the COVID19 to make the greatest impact through improving pandemic procurement.

By responding in a timely manner to risks of potential fraud, loss, and mismanagement of government funds and resources as a result of poor public procurement practices, especially during the COVID19 period, SAIs are demonstrating their ongoing relevance to not only citizens but also parliament and other key stakeholders. 

The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) is the official association of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in the Pacific region, and a regional organisation of INTOSAI and promotes transparent, accountable, effective and efficient use of public sector resources in the Pacific.  It contributes to that goal by helping its member SAIs improve the quality of public sector auditing in the Pacific to recognised high standards.  Due to the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID19), this has restricted PASAI’s delivery of our programs to our Pacific members and in lieu of this PASAI will be providing a series of blogs on various topics that may help auditors think about some implications to service delivery as a result of COVID19.  

For more information about PASAI refer www.pasai.org