The Public Procurement Commission was established under Articles 212 W, X and Y and Z of the Constitution. The Commission is required to carry out its work independently in a manner consistent with the fundamental principles of fairness and impartiality, as enshrined in the Constitution. With this in mind the Commission has recently had cause to remind the public of its important role in promoting the highest standards of public procurement of goods, services and the execution of works.
In doing so the Commission said in a recent statement said that it works in a collaborative manner, which affords all members equal opportunities to participate fully. In fact it underscored that this is exactly what transpired in the recently concluded investigation of the procurement of emergency drugs by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
According to the recently released missive, Article 212 AA (3) of the Constitution states, “ The Commission may, by directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, delegate any of its functions to any one or more members of the Commission, or to such officers of the Commission as the Commission may determine.”
Notwithstanding this provision, the Commission pointed out that it did not delegate any aspect of the work of the GPHC investigation to any individual Commissioner. The five Commissioners worked collectively throughout the process of the investigation and were all fully aware at all times of the contents of the final report, to which they all contributed and were all also afforded the opportunity to sign.
The Commission, it said, comprises five Commissioners who each took an oath of confidentiality in respect of the conduct of the GPHC investigations and, as such, it would have been inappropriate and in breach of that oath for any Commissioner to discuss, at this time, the specific details of the findings and recommendations relating to the investigation.
The atmosphere of deliberations, the Commission said, is one of mutual respect and courtesy, albeit there was vigorous discussions and healthy debate, as one would expect from a group of mature professionals, who are all fully qualified and experienced in their respective areas of expertise (procurement, legal, financial and administrative matters).
Article 226 (10) of the Constitution states, “ Save as otherwise provided in this Constitution, in the exercise of its functions under this Constitution, a Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.”