The supply of medicines to Mozambique has been stagnant for more than two years due to a fight between national companies in the procurementwhich involves 374,847,474.00 million meticais ($5,038,272.50), for the supply of medical supplies to the Ministry of Health (Misau), according to the Center for Public Integrity (CIP).
The report reveals that, through non-existent selection or choice criteria, some companies enjoy 'preferentialism' and benefit from public tenders in the health sector, even presenting proposals far above those put forward by their competitors. In one of the cases, for the supply of medical-surgical material, the company Tecnologia Hospitalar e Laboratorial Moçambique, Limitada (THL) would have been awarded a tender for the supply of suture threads worth US$84,671.73 (about 5,473,160.62 meticais), a value four times (4x) higher than the lowest bid, from the company Bing Bang, of US$18,171.91 (1,171,361.31 meticais) for the same tender.
"However, the jury classified THL without the proper reasoning, contrary to paragraph 3 of Article 37, of the Public Procurement Regulation" advances the CIP, citing a report evaluating the process produced by the Inspectorate General of Health (IGS) when called to intervene in the process, after a complaint about irregularities in the selection of companies.
The jury would have planned a hearing on this case and thus agreed to "argue that THL had quality sutures because they were internationally certified for specialty surgeries. However, this criterion was not included in the course regulations. It was an invention of the jury to benefit THL." The Center reveals that a study by surgeons concluded that "all samples of suture threads had the same quality" and "any one of them could be awarded the contract.
"THL is a privileged customer in tenders. In 2017, it won a public tender for the supply of Humalyser 2000/3000 laboratory equipment with prices four times above the reference price," it reads.
In 2017, the average bid was at 62% above the forecasted cost. "BCG was awarded at prices twice the predicted cost, while VAS was awarded at almost three times (3x) the predicted cost. The predicted costs were at 37% above international reference prices and were therefore inaccurate. Also, on average, products procured based on Direct Adjustment from specialized suppliers were 94% above international benchmark prices," says the CIP, citing a World Bank report.
The CIP also shows in its document that Neopharma, one of the companies complaining about the choice of THL, used its lobbies and referred its complaint directly to the current Minister of Health and not to the jury as the law requires.
"The Minister, instead of invalidating it, received the complaint and ordered the Permanent Secretary and the Inspectorate General of Health to investigate the process, in violation of the public works contracting regulations, according to which the complaint must be presented to the jury within five working days, without payment of any fee," CIP explains.
The Center for Public Integrity also found that the company Mozinovation, Lda. won one of the lots of the tender worth 466,595.66 USD (about six million meticais) without presenting fundamental requirements, including proof of annual turnover for the last three years.
"Mozinovation, Lda, had, on the date of award, only one year, 11 months and eight days of existence. It could not present proof of three years because it had not even two years of existence," says the CIP, revealing that this company is made up of "people from the elite relations that ran the MOH between 2015 and 2019.
Among several corruption tricks in the Mozambican Ministry of Health, "dragging the tenders until they run out of stock to then resort to direct adjustment, claiming urgency, has been the trick of the groups that control public procurement," considers the CIP.