(a) an Accounting Officer defined in section 3;

(b) the Tender Boards in the case of Local Governments mentioned in sections 92 to 95 of the Local Governments Act of 1997, and a Contracts Committee in all other cases;

(c) a Procurement and Disposal Unit;

(d) a User Department as defined in section 3; and

(e) an Evaluation Committee.

25.
(1) A procuring and disposing entity shall be responsible for the management of all procurement and disposal activities within its jurisdiction in accordance with this Act, regulations and guidelines made under this Act.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) the Authority shall contract out its procurement and disposal activities, except micro procurement or disposal activities.

26. The Accounting Officer of a procuring and disposing entity shall have overall responsibility for the execution of the procurement and disposal process in the procuring and disposing entity, and in particular, shall be responsible for-

(a) establishing a Contracts Committee in accordance with this Act;

(b) appointing the members of a Contracts Committee specified in the Third Schedule;

(c) causing to be established a Procurement and Disposal Unit staffed at an appropriate level;

(d) advertising bid opportunities;

(e) communicating award decisions;

(f) certifying the availability of funds to support the procurement or disposal activities;

(g) signing contracts for procurement or disposal activities on behalf of the procuring and disposing entity;

(h) investigating complaints by providers;

(i) submitting a copy of any complaints and reports of the findings to the Authority; and

(j) ensuring that the implementation of the awarded contract is in accordance with the terms and conditions of the award.

27. (1) Subject to sub-section (2), a Contracts Committee shall be composed of the members specified in the Third Schedule.

(2) The Members of the Contracts Committee shall be nominated by the Accounting Officer and approved by the Secretary to the Treasury.

(3) A Contracts Committee may co-opt advisers to assist it in the discharge of its functions.

(4) The Accounting Officer shall inform the Authority of the composition of the Contracts Committee and the qualifications of its members not later than fourteen days from the date of its appointment.

(5) Members of the contracts Committee shall be appointed with regard to their technical competence and skills required for the discharge of the functions of the Contracts Committee.

(6) The tenure of the members of the Contracts Committee shall be three years and a member may be re-appointed for only one further term.

28. A Contracts Committee shall be responsible for-

(a) adjudication of recommendations from the Procurement and Disposal Unit and award of contracts;

(b) approving the Evaluation Committee;

(c) approving bidding and contract documents;

(d) approving procurement and disposal procedures;
(e) ensuring that best practices in relation to procurement and disposal are strictly adhered to by procuring and disposing entities;

(f) ensuring compliance with this Act; and

(g) liaising directly with the Authority on matters within its jurisdiction.

29. A Contracts Committee shall-

(a) authorize-

(i) the choice of a procurement and disposal procedure;

(ii) solicitation documents before issue;

(iii) technical, financial or combined evaluation reports;

(iv) contract documentation in line with the authorised Evaluation Report; and

(v) any amendment to an awarded contract;

(b) recommend for the delegation of a procurement or disposal function by the Accounting Officer whenever the necessity arises; and

(c) award contracts in accordance with applicable procurement or disposal procedures as the case may be.

30. A procuring and disposing entity shall cause to be established a Procurement and Disposal Unit staffed at an appropriate level.

31. A Procurement and Disposal Unit shall-

(a) manage all procurement or disposal activities of the procuring and disposing entity except adjudication and the award of contracts;
(b) support the functioning of the Contracts Committee;

(c) implement the decisions of the Contracts Committee;

(d) liaise directly with the Authority on matters within its jurisdiction;

(e) act as a secretariat to the Contracts Committee;

(f) plan the procurement and disposal activities of the procuring and disposing entity;

(g) recommend procurement and disposal procedures;

(h) check and prepare statements of requirements;

(i) prepare bid documents;

(j) prepare advertisements of bid opportunities;

(k) issue bidding documents;

(l) maintain a providers list;

(m) prepare contract documents;

(n) issue approved contract documents;

(o) maintain and archive records of the procurement and disposal process;

(p) prepare monthly reports for the Contracts Committee;

(q) co-ordinate the procurement and disposal activities of all the departments of the procuring and disposing entity;

(r) prepare any other such reports as may be required from time to time.

32. A Procurement and Disposal Unit shall have the powers to-

(a) recommend the composition of evaluation committees for the approval of the Contracts Committee;

(b) contract independent advice as may be necessary in the discharge of its functions;

(c) ensure compliance with this Act, regulations and guidelines made under this Act, and best practices;

(d) manage bid proposals and pre-qualification submissions and make recommendations on them to the Contracts Committee;

(e) provide bid clarifications; and

(f) receive bids.

33. (1) Where a Contracts Committee disagrees with the recommendations of a Procurement and Disposal Unit, it may-

(a) return the submission to the Procurement and Disposal Unit for review giving written reasons for its disagreement; or

(b) request for independent advice from the Authority.

(2) Where a Procurement and Disposal Unit disagrees with the views of the Contracts Committee on its recommendations under subsection (1), it may request for independent advise from the Authority.

(3) A party seeking for advise from the Authority under subsections (1) and (2) shall state in writing the reasons for its disagreement.

34. (1) The User Department of a Procuring and Disposing Entity shall perform the following functions-

(a) liaise with and assist the Procurement and Disposal Unit throughout the procurement or disposal process to the point of contract placement;
(b) initiate procurement and disposal requirements and forward them to the Procurement and Disposal Unit;

(c) propose technical inputs to statements of require-ments for procurement requirements to the Procurement and Disposal Unit;

(d) propose technical specifications to the Procurement and Disposal Unit when necessary;

(e) input with technical evaluation of Bids received as required by the Procurement and Disposal Unit;

(f) arrange for payments to providers;

(g) report any departure from the terms and conditions of an awarded contract to the Procurement and Disposal Unit;

(h) forward details of any required contract amendments to the Procurement and Disposal Unit for action;

(i) maintain and archive records of contracts management; and

(j) prepare any reports required for submission to the Procurement and Disposal Unit, the Committee or the Accounting Officer.

(2) The User Department shall prepare a work plan for procurement based on the approved budget, which shall be submitted to the Procurement and Disposal Unit for implementation when required.

35. In the exercise of its functions a User Department shall-

(a) initiate procurement and disposal requirements;

(b) recommend Statements of Requirements to the Procurement and Disposal Unit;
(c) undertake conformity assessments;

(d) issue change orders in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract; and

(e) certify invoices for payments to providers.

36. (1) Where a Procurement and Disposal Unit disagrees with a User Department concerning any decision pertaining to the application or interpretation of any procurement method, process or practice, the two parties may jointly consult with any two members of the Contracts Committee for a review and guidance in resolving the disagreement.

(2) Where such review fails to resolve the disagreement, either party may forward the cause of the disagreement as a submission to the Contracts Committee for a formal decision by the Contracts Committee.

37. (1) All evaluations shall be conducted by an Evaluation Committee, which shall report to the Procurement and Disposal Unit.

(2) The membership of the Evaluation Committee shall be recommended by Procurement and Disposal Unit, in accordance with Regulations made under this Act, and approved by the Contracts Committee.

(3) The number of the members of the Evaluation Committee shall depend on the value and complexity of the procurement requirement, but shall in all cases be a minimum of three members.

(4) The members shall be of an appropriate level of seniority and experience, depending on the value and complexity of the procurement requirement.

(5) Members of the Evaluation Committee may be external to the Procuring and Disposing Entity, where the required skills or experience are not available within the Procuring and Disposing Entity or where members are indisposed or have a conflict of interest.
(6) All members of the Evaluation Committee shall sign the Code of Ethics provided under the regulation made under this Act, declaring that they do not have a conflict of interest in the procurement requirement.

(7) The meetings of the Evaluation Committee, the conduct of the evaluation and the evaluation methodologies shall be executed in accordance with the regulation made under this Act.

38. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Accounting Officer, the Contracts Committee, the Procurement and Disposal Unit, the User Department and the Evaluation Committee shall act independently in relation to their respective functions and powers.

39. An Accounting Officer may delegate the procurement or disposal function of the procuring and disposing entity to-

(a) a sub-division of that entity; or

(b) another procuring and disposing entity; or

(c) a third party procurement agency,

in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in regulations made under this Act.

40. (1) Where it is deemed that there is lack of technical capacity, and subject to guidelines and prior approval of the Authority, a procuring and disposing entity may engage third party procurement and disposal services.

(2) On deciding to invite third party procurement services, a procuring and disposing entity shall-

(a) secure prior written assurance of the Accounting Officer that funds are available to pay in full and on time for those services;

(b) obtain those services from among firms pre-qualified by the Authority; and
(c) follow the procedure laid down by the Authority in its guidelines.

41. (1) A procuring and disposing entity shall maintain records on its procurement and disposal proceedings for a period of seven years from the date of a decision to terminate the procurement or disposal action, or the date of the contract completion, whichever comes later, except where a contract is on going or is challenged, in which case, the records shall be kept for an additional year after the completion of the contract or the settlement of the dispute, whichever comes earlier.

(2) The records of the procurement and disposal process shall be open to inspection by the Authority during working hours.

42. (1) For the avoidance of doubt, the Defence and National Security organs shall comply with this Act subject to subsections (2) and (3).

(2) The Defence and National Security Organs shall manage their procurement and disposal on the basis of a dual list, covering items subject to open and restricted procurement or disposal methods respectively.

(3) The Defence and National Security Organs shall agree annually with the Authority on the category of restricted items to be included on the restricted list and on which restricted procurement or disposal methods, set out in Part VI, shall apply to each category of item on the restricted list.

(4) The restricted list of items shall be subjected to classified audit and laid before Parliament in the Annual Performance Evaluation Report.