The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) has ordered the cancellation of a million-dollar tender for the purchase of small animals that had been awarded to a company by the National Institute for Social Action (INAS).

INAS, in the Chóckwè district of Gaza province, had been awarded more than 25 million meticais, but the process was riddled with irregularities.

Quoted by RM and STVThe National Director of State Assets at the MEF, Albertina Forquia, explained that irregularities had been detected in the contracted company's license.

"The scope of the contract has to do with something that is different from the license that was issued for the services of the company that was awarded the contract. It's a process that is irregular from the outset," he noted.

According to Forquia, INAS is obliged to define the technical specifications of the object of the contract it intends to purchase when it initiates the relevant procurement procedure.

"In this specific case, it's about animals. But it must also define the qualification requirements of the eligible bidders for that contract," he said.

Since this was an irregular tender, both the entity that awarded the tender and the company will be penalized. A team has been set up to investigate the details of the tender and only then will the MEF decide what punitive measures to apply.

"We're going to assess, after evaluating the conclusion of the entire administrative process, which is to see what responsibility lies with the contracting authority, the staff who instructed the processes and also the decision-makers regarding the processes that were instituted," he said.