Mozambique: Minister Calls for Simplified Contracting Procedures

mozambique's minister of public works, felicio zacarias, on tuesday stressed the need to simplify procedures for hiring contractors.

he was speaking at the pequenos libombos resort, some 40 kilometres west of maputo, during a meeting at which the government is discussing with donors and funding agencies the financing needs for the second phase of its third roads programme (covering the period 2007-2011).

zacarias regarded the current contracting system as complicated and slow. "under the present conditions, the procedure involves several phases and several bodies, which ensures delays before reaching the phase of authorisation", he said. he proposed a simplification whereby the national roads administration (ane) would negotiate directly with the contractors, while the ministries of finance and of public works would merely supervise and follow the implementation of the agreed contracts.

"we can't be players and referees at the same time", declared zacarias, as he called for the ministries and their technical staff to be removed from direct involvement in hiring contractors.

the government's true role was that of "referee", zacarias insisted, while the "players" were the ane and the contractors.

as for a call by donors that the government's road fund should be supervised by the finance ministry, rather than the public works ministry, zacarias said the proposal was perfectly acceptable.

speaking on behalf of all the government's foreign partners, elizabeth jones, of the british department for international development (dfid), said the donors felt "there are strong grounds for the road fund, in the medium term, to fall under the tutelage of the ministry of finance, which would better reflect its functions".

she said the donors welcomed "the strong policy leadership given by the government in the past six months, and we hope this leadership continues. we see this as a positive sign of an empowered roads sector".

strong government leadership, she said, had been reflected in new road strategies, in "phased three year development plans", in a draft policy document on unclassified roads, and particularly in the development of an integrated road sector programme (prise), with its accompanying performance assessment framework.


but donors remained concerned over the government's ability to implement the roads strategy. "we support the finalisation of plans to restructure the ane", said jones, "but we encourage the government to undertake these reforms at a rhythm that allows considered implementation, and we encourage competitive hiring for all new appointments".

in an unusual mea culpa, the donors admitted that they have often wasted the government's time. "we recognise that we can be part of the problem, if we impose high transaction costs on the government", said jones. "ane alone estimates that it uses 18 workers a month in missions from the various donors and the preparation. ane estimates that 30 per cent of this time is spent by the senior management". the government's restructuring of the roads sector, zacarias said, included merging the roads and bridges departments of the provincial governments with the provincial ane delegations into single units.

the road fund and the ane, he added, would have to sign a contract-programme, approved by the government, establishing in written form the responsibilities of the two parties.