Public procurement has since time immemorial proved to be one of the most challenging sectors to reform because it often meets major resistance from vested interests within society; not only in Lesotho but almost everywhere in the world.
In the light of this reality, understanding the political economy aspects of procurement is critical to address the underlying factors that may impede the effective implementation of reforms.
The combined effect of high value transactions, excessive discretionary powers afforded to public officials and dependency of private firms on government contracts to survive economically provide fertile grounds for procurement corruption in many developing countries.
Government contracts also provide an additional source of income for both politicians and bureaucrats and a substantial source of funding for political parties, election campaigns or individual politicians.
Procurement reform is a highly technical and complex process that requires major changes involving a wide variety of actors with multiple, often conflicting and changing political incentives that can complement, compete or reinforce each other.
At the operational level, reforms should involve major procedural changes that profoundly alter the work of procurement officers and generate massive resistance from public officials who benefit from the old ways of doing business.
Due to the inherent political nature of procurement reforms, anti-corruption approaches should be limited to implementing a set of technocratic solutions.
An incentive structure that may undermine political will for reform has to be adequately assessed and addressed to ensure effective implementation of reforms.
Perhaps Lesotho would like to take a look as a World Bank 2007 study tracking corruption vulnerabilities at sector level illustrates emerging efforts by donors to include political economy issues in the dialogue with partner countries. The study explores potential weaknesses along the procurement chain and identifying red flags as well as potential policy options to address and manage corruption risks.
It identifies the most common corruption schemes used to manipulate procurement processes such as kickback brokered by local agents, various forms of bid rigging or use of shell companies, and provides an overview of the potential vulnerabilities associated with each phase of the government contracting process
