FLAWS IN GOVT ASSET DISPOSAL PROCESS

MBABANE – Loopholes have been noted in the way government disposes of its assets, especially when selling old vehicles through public auctions.

Concerned businesspeople told the Times SUNDAY that they had, for a long time, been keenly monitoring this process and noted that a lot was wrong.

First of all, they said the basis of their concerns was that the Swaziland Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (SPPRA) should be playing a major role in the whole process, but was being totally sidelined.

They argued that since government followed SPPRA procedures when buying assets or enlisting services, the same entity should be engaged and should regulate the disposal of these properties.

The entity that is of utmost concern to the business people is the Central Transport Administration, which is responsible for the fleet of government vehicles and is the one that disposes of them. “It is a known fact that government does not have a qualified auctioneer except for individuals who have been conducting the auctions for quite some time now. This does not mean these people are qualified,” stated one of the businessmen.

They said the practice of government engaging its own employees for the auctions also raised questions on transparency because the person doing the job could be manipulated by his bosses or colleagues who might want to purchase some of the assets being auctioned.  
The identities of the businesspeople will not be revealed because they do work for government institutions and they fear victimisation should they be known.

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