CHAPTER 42:11
LOCAL AUTHORITIES PROCUREMENT AND ASSET DISPOSAL

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

    SECTION

PART I
Preliminary

    1.    Short title

    2.    Interpretation

PART II
Scope of the Act

    3.    Application

    4.    Responsibility for procurement and disposal of assets

    5.    External obligations

    6.    Procurement for external obligations

    7.    Fair treatment

PART III
Appointment of committees

    8.    Appointment of Evaluation Committee

    9.    Functions and powers of Evaluation Committee

    10.    Meetings of Evaluation Committee

    11.    Establishment of Adjudication Committee

    12.    Functions of Adjudication Committee

    13.    Meetings of Adjudication Committee

    14.    Removal and suspension of member

    15.    Remuneration of member

    16.    Secretariat

    17.    Functions of Secretariat

    18.    Co-option of advisory personnel

    19.    Disclosure of interest

    20.    Confidentiality

    21.    Accountability of committee

    22.    Establishment of Performance Monitoring Committee

    23.    Functions of Performance Monitoring Committee

    24.    Establishment of Appeals Board

PART IV
Establishment of Competent Authority

    25.    Designation of Competent Authority

    26.    Functions of Competent Authority

PART V
Procurement procedure and processes

    27.    Inclusion of relevant clauses in bidding packages

    28.    Revision of bidding packages

    29.    Consideration of factors outside bidding packages

    30.    Use of register of contractors

PART VI
Basic procurement and disposal principles

    31.    Joint ventures, consortia or associations

    32.    Changes in bidders circumstances

    33.    Non-discrimination

    34.    Transparency, accountability and fairness

    35.    Confidentiality by local authority

    36.    Compliance with schemes

    37.    Empowerment of citizen contractors

    38.    Procurement preferences and reservation schemes

    39.    Scale of preference

    40.    Preference for supplies

    41.    Subcontracting

PART VII
Miscellaneous

    42.    Records to be kept

    43.    Electronic procurement

    44.    Medium of communication

    45.    Immunities

    46.    Regulations

    47.    Transitional period

Act 17, 2008,
S.I. 102, 2008.

An Act to provide for the appointment of procuring and disposal committees in local authorities, the establishment of a Competent Authority to monitor procurement processes in local authorities and to provide for the procurement of works, supplies and services, for the disposal of public assets by local authorities and related matters.

[Date of Commencement: 1st January, 2009]

PART I
Preliminary (ss 1-2)

1.    Short title

    This Act may be cited as the Local Authorities Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.

2.    Interpretation

    In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

    "Accounting Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer of a local authority;

    "Adjudication Committee" means a committee established under section 11;

    "assets" means property owned by a local authority whether tangible or intangible;

    "bid" means tender and vice versa, inclusive of quotations;

    "bidder" means a person participating as a bidder in a public procurement or asset disposal activity;

    "bidding packages" includes invitation to tender, solicitation documents, statement of requirements or any other documents inviting bidders to participate in procurement or disposal proceedings, and includes documents inviting potential bidders to pre-qualify;

    "citizen contractor" means a contractor who is a natural person or an incorporated company wholly owned and controlled by persons who are citizens of Botswana;

    "committee" means the Evaluation Committee or the Adjudication Committee or both;

    "Competent Authority" means the unit under the Ministry of Local Government designated as the Competent Authority under section 25;

    "contractor" means a person who enters into a contract with a procuring and disposing entity;

    "disposal" means the divestiture of assets, including intellectual and proprietary rights and goodwill, and any other rights of a local authority including sale, rental, lease, franchise, auction, or any combination, however classified;

    "Evaluation Committee" means a committee established under section 8;

    "external beneficiary" means external bidder or foreign company bidding for an undertaking;

    "local authority" means a city council, a town council, a township authority, a district council, a subdistrict council or an administrative authority;

    "member" means a member of a committee, and includes the Chairperson thereof;

    "pre-qualification" means a screening process to ensure that the invitations to bid are confined to capable firms;

    "procurement" means acquisition by purchase, rental, lease, hire purchase, licence, tenancy, franchise, or any other contractual means, of any type of works, services or supplies, or any combination thereof;

    "procuring and disposing entity" means a user department, division, branch or section of a local authority, including any project unit established by and operating under a local authority, which initiates procurement and is the user of the requirements;

    "provider" means a natural person or a company incorporated under the<CS:"Hidden - Grey - 8_2"> Companies Act (Cap. 42:01);

    "Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board" means the Board established under section 10 of the <CS:"Hidden - Grey - 8_2"> Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act (Cap. 42:08);

    "Secretariat" means the office designated as a Secretariat of a committee under section 16;

    "services" means all services, other than works and supplies, including banking services, insurance coverage, travel services, cleaning services, consultancy services;

    "specifications" means the standard specifications developed under the<CS:"Hidden - Grey - 8_2"> Standards Act (Cap. 43:07), and includes—

    (a)    a generic or functional description of the qualities required of a procurement item;

    (b)    the relevant industry standards of approaching and executing the assignment in question; or

    (c)    the appropriate good practice tests that are to be used to verify the specified quality and performance of the procured item before delivery, on delivery, during installation and in the course of operation, as applicable, and the use of which shall be mandatory in all bidding documents;

    "statement of requirements" means a document that contains a full and complete description of the requirement that is the subject of the procurement or disposal;

    "supplies" includes goods, raw materials, products, equipment or objects of any kind and description in solid, liquid or gaseous form, or in the form of electricity, or intellectual and proprietary rights, as well as works or services incidental to the provision of such supplies; and

    "works" means—

    (a)    any work associated with the construction, reconstruction, demolition, repair, or renovation of a building or structure, on the surface or underground, on and under water;

    (b)    the preparation, excavation, erection, assembly, installation, testing and commissioning of any plant, equipment or materials, decoration and finishing;

    (c)    turnkey projects, build own and operate projects, build operate and transfer projects or any arrangement of this nature;

    (d)    any other form of private-public partnerships or joint development activities, all or any of which may include management, maintenance, testing, commissioning or training; or

    (e)    services or supplies incidental to the foregoing works, where the value of such incidental services or supplies does not exceed the value of such works.

PART II
Scope of the Act (ss 3-7)

3.    Application

    The provisions of this Act shall apply to—

    (a)    local authorities;

    (b)    the procurement or disposal of all assets;

    (c)    the procurement of all works, services or supplies, (or any combination thereof, however classified); and

    (d)    the disposal of—

        (i)    physical properties and land;

        (ii)    items acquired through works, services or supplies contracts;

        (iii)    intellectual and proprietary rights;

        (iv)    financial instruments, including shares, stocks, bonds, etc.; and

        (v)    goodwill and any other rights of the local authority.

4.    Responsibility for procurement and disposal of assets