The Government is proposing changes to the public procurement law that would limit the powers of the Office of Procurement Regulation (OPR), create exemptions from existing procurement requirements and increase the value of contracts some public bodies can approve.
The changes are contained in the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Under the Bill, the OPR’s powers would be limited after it completes an investigation under Part IV of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act.
The OPR would also be able to award costs in favour of a successful procuring entity in challenge proceedings.
The Bill would also shorten the time available for challenges to procurement decisions.
The current standstill period is between 10 and 15 working days. The proposed amendments would reduce this to between five and 10 working days.
Another major change would increase the amount some public officials can approve without having to follow the procurement requirements of the Act.
Permanent Secretaries and accounting officers of State-controlled enterprises and statutory bodies would be able to approve procurement of up to $2 million.
Chief Executive Officers of municipal corporations would be able to approve procurement of up to $500,000.
The Bill would also create specific exemptions from the Act’s procurement requirements.
It proposes changes to the definition of a public-private partnership, replacing the existing definition of “public-private partnership arrangement”.
Consequential changes would also be made to section 63 of the Act.
The Bill would also revoke the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Simplified Procurement) Regulations, 2024.
It contains 10 clauses and requires a simple majority vote.
