By our Correspondence, Morogoro
Tanzania’s Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) has urged procurement officers to strictly comply with procurement laws and procedures in a bid to reduce audit queries and safeguard public funds amid growing scrutiny over project implementation.
Speaking at the close of a three-day training workshop for heads of procurement units from all 26 regions, TARURA Chief Executive Officer Engineer Victor Seff said stronger oversight was needed to address recurring weaknesses identified in audits.
The workshop, held in Morogoro, focused on strengthening procurement capacity, improving contract management and ensuring adherence to Tanzania’s public procurement regulations.
Eng. Seff said one of the major challenges facing the agency was the selection of contractors lacking the capacity to execute projects effectively, alongside weak management of contract guarantees, particularly advance payment guarantees.
“We have continued to witness cases where guarantees expire, especially advance payment guarantees, leading to loss of government funds and difficulties in recovering money paid to contractors,” he said.
He added that the training gave procurement specialists an opportunity to review operational challenges and reaffirm their obligation to follow established laws, guidelines and procedures to prevent similar shortcomings.
TARURA, which oversees road infrastructure development in rural and urban areas across Tanzania, said it was seeking to eliminate audit concerns linked to expired guarantees and unrecovered advance payments.
“We have agreed that going forward we should no longer see audit queries relating to expired guarantees or failure to recover advance payments as required under contracts,” Seff said.
TARURA Director of Procurement Management Venant Majambo said the meeting also reviewed procurement performance during the 2025/2026 financial year, noting that more than 70% of the agency’s expenditure passes through procurement processes.
Majambo said the training would help prepare the agency for the 2026/2027 financial year with procurement officers better equipped to enforce transparency, accountability and efficiency in the use of public resources.
He added that TARURA aims to reduce weaknesses identified in audit reports issued by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), and internal auditors through tighter procurement controls and improved compliance
