Take Procurement Seriously

SIR— Your recent article “New team to review procurement” shows a great move to stop the “rampant uncoordinated purchases” in the various departments of government is timely. Duplication of goods services in related departments is a common problem everywhere. Sometimes it is due to lack of information but at times departments just prefer to have their own, even when there is sufficient information to show that they so rarely use the equipment and could comfortably share with other departments. It is worse when the departments are equipped with an approved budget; it will take a higher authority to all the departments in question to stop the transactions. I would also like to express my disappointment about leaving procurement professionals out of the appointed technical committee yet this is primarily a procurement activity. Procurement is a profession and just as there are those trained to look after the economy or argue cases in courts of law or treat the sick, there also those trained to effectively buy and get value for money. Pelly Rutamwebwa-MugasiUniversity of Birmingham