HIGH Court judge Justice Webster Chinamhora has castigated the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz) for disrespecting a court order by reviving a tender that was suspended in a case involving Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) and a software company.
Pan-African software and technology firm Twenty Third Century Limited (TTCS) approached the High Court for a second time seeking a suspension of the procurement process.
The company argued that the restrictive contract clauses put forward by Praz went against a High Court judgment delivered in July.
The judge nullified and cancelled the procurement process by the Higher and Tertiary Education ministry which administers Zimdef operations, effectively suspending the tender which was advertised last month.
“The apparent disregard of the law by the 1st respondent (ministry) caused me concern.
“Accordingly, I make the following order; the procurement process initiated by 1st respondent who administers the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund under reference domestic ZPCR-33-2022 be and is hereby cancelled and nullified,” Chinamhora ruled.
The judge said the ministry was entitled to start a new process.
The dispute has been dragging on in the courts for a while.
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Previously, TTCS approached the High Court challenging Praz’s decision to award a tender to business rival Tano Solutions.
According to the court documents, Zimdef and Praz advertised a tender back in September for the provision of systems applications and products (SAP) software, but maintained that bidders were required to hold a SAP licence to carry out the service.
This prompted TTCS to file an urgent chamber application at the court seeking the suspension of the procurement process.
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