The Acting Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Gabriel Chembezi, has called on Parliament to urgently restore the bureau’s powers to vet high-value public procurements, warning that their removal has exposed government projects to widespread corruption.
Chembezi made the remarks on Wednesday when the ACB engaged and oriented the Parliamentary Committee on Land, Transport, and Public Infrastructure on corruption risks in infrastructure development and public procurement systems.
He said corruption risks cut across the entire project cycle, from bidding and procurement to implementation and payment, citing practices such as single-sourcing abuse, bid information leaks, delayed project timelines, and bribes demanded before payments are processed.
Chembezi told the committee that amendments to public procurement laws are necessary, particularly to reinstate the ACB’s authority to vet high-value procurements, a mandate that was removed in 2025 and has since limited the bureau to vetting only single-sourcing arrangements.
He warned that the current legal framework has created loopholes that allow serious misuse of public resources and urged lawmakers to restore the vetting powers to enable preventive oversight before contracts are awarded.
Chairperson of the committee, Dumisan Lindani, said the engagement was aimed at preparing members of the newly constituted committee ahead of field work, with a strong focus on integrity, corruption risks, and institutional accountability in public infrastructure projects.
Lindani acknowledged existing policy and legal gaps, pledged the committee’s support for necessary legislative reforms, and reaffirmed Parliament’s commitment to working with the ACB and other committees to strengthen the fight against corruption.
