DISS has no place in Tender Adjudication- PPRA

PPRA has emphasised that the role of DISS is strictly confined to conducting national security screening and does not extend to influencing or determining the outcome of any procurement process The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) has clarified that the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Service (DISS) has no legal authority to cancel tender applications. Eager to set the record straight for journalists at a press briefing in Gaborone on Monday this week, the CEO of PPRA, Tumelo Motsumi, said the role of DISS is strictly confined to conducting national security screening and does not extend to influencing or determining the outcome of any procurement process. He emphasised that the legal framework governing public procurement assigns DISS this narrowly defined role that is strictly limited to vetting entities involved in sensitive projects.

Beyond this screening function, he stressed, DISS cannot intervene in procurement decisions, direct the course of adjudication or influence which bidders are approved or disqualified. Motsumi noted that DISS works in tandem with accounting officers only when national security is at risk. “The DIS is only involved in consultation with accounting officers,” he said.

“They are involved in instances where there are issues of national security and espionage.” He added that the Public Procurement Act (2021) prohibits external institutions from interfering with procurement outcomes as doing so would undermine the integrity, transparency and fairness of the public tendering system. Only legally mandated bodies within the procurement structure hold the power to evaluate, award or cancel tenders because any deviation from established processes would risk eroding public trust in government contracting. “From 2022 (since the Public Procurement Act took effect), I have not heard of any tender that was cancelled by the DIS because the Act is very clear that tender cancellation is for accounting officers,” said Motsumi. Even so, tender documents submitted to the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly recently showed that DISS had participated in vetting tender applications, contradicting earlier government denials.