The Republic of Fiji Military Forces bought $749,997 worth of good from one vendor without calling for competitive tenders, the Auditor-General has found in its audit of 2022 that was tabled in Parliament recently.
The Auditor-General said public tenders must be called for any procurement of goods, services or works valued at $50,001 or more, unless a Tender Board has approved an exemption in accordance with Government Procurement Regulation.
“The audit noted that the force failed to call for a tender to procure goods from Company A in the financial year 2022. Audit noted that for the financial year 2022, the company supplied single product totalling $749,997 to the force without tender board approval,” the report stated.
“Failure to comply with the procurement regulation could increase the risk of fraud and collusion between the two parties.
“The force should ensure that section 30(1) of the Procurement Regulation is adhered to.”
The Republic of Fiji Military Forces agreed with the findings and said each unit is responsible for their own procurements in accordance with their activities and tasking which has led to amounts exceeding $50,000 for the whole of RFMF.
“The RFMF is now preparing a ender for all Common User Items which includes food rations and other stores.”
