THE Zambia Public Procurement Authority has announced the release of the market price index for the first quarter of 2022, aimed at curbing inflated prices in the procurement of goods, works and services.

And ZPPA Director General Idah Chella has urged all procuring entities to continue undertaking price reasonableness analysis for items not covered in the MPI.

In a statement, Tuesday, ZPPA Public Relations Officer Inutu Mushambatwa said the market price information in the MPI which is accessible on the ZPPA website was collected from across the country.

“The Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) has released the market price index (MPI) for the first quarter of 2022. ZPPA Director General Idah Chella has stated that the publication of the MPI is in accordance with section 12 (3) of the Public Procurement Act No.8 of 2020 (PPA) which mandates ZPPA to publish the MPI on a quarterly basis, to be used by a Controlling Officer, Chief Executive Officer and Procuring Entities (PEs) for purposes of an informed price decision. The quarterly release of the MPI will curb inflated prices in the procurement of goods, works and services. Section 12(2) of the PPA provides that a PE shall procure standard goods, works and services in accordance with the price index issued by the Authority. Additionally, PEs will use the MPI as a tool for budgeting, annual procurement planning, and bid/tender evaluation,” the statement read.

“The market price information in the MPI, which is accessible on the ZPPA website: www.zppa.org.zm, was collected from across the country and therefore covers the different provinces of the country. The Director General has further said that the prices for various civil works have not been included in the MPI for the first quarter of 2022. However, for subsequent MPIs, the Authority is acquiring a cost estimator software that will enable it to come up with buildup rates for various standard works in the construction industry.Mrs. Chella has noted that the MPI is a key component in the tender pricing strategy which looks at prices of commonly procured items, specification units of purchase, neutral specification of items or brand names that are standardized and procured by PEs in different categories.”

And ZPPA Director General Idah Chella urged all procuring entities to continue undertaking price reasonableness analysis for items not covered in the MPI.

“Mrs. Chella has reminded all PEs to continue undertaking price reasonableness analysis (PRA) (subject to approval of the Authority) where an item to be procured is not covered in the MPI. She has further explained that the MPI was developed through a consultative process with Zambia Statistics Agency which is the Government agency responsible for the coordination of production and publication of official statistics in Zambia, in accordance with the Statistics Act No.13 of 2018, and the index contains a total number of 2,282 items from the 1,025 items in the previous MPI,” read the statement.

“Mrs. Chella has advised that ZPPA shall continuously review and update the MPI to ensure that goods, works or services that are commonly procured by PEs are covered in the subsequent MPIs. She has further added that the MPIs will be dynamic to keep up with the changes in price and items procured. The Publication of the current MPI supersedes the one which has been in use from the date of publication. The MPI shall be in effect until the next publication.”