Kinshasa, June 2nd, 2025(CPA)- The 15 years of existence of the law on public contracts have marked the culmination of a long process of reforms, the Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday, during the celebration of this event in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. ‘The celebration of the 15th anniversary of the law on public procurement and of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority marks the culmination of a long process of reform’, said Paul Mavulu, Dof’atandele, Secretary General at the Prime Minister’s Office. According to him, for decades, public procurement was governed by the colonial decree of 1959, then by the ordinance-law of 1969. These texts, he said, were unable to put an end to the grievances of direct agreement contracts, which were characterized by a lack of transparency and efficiency. So the law of June 2nd, 2010 on public procurement was a welcome breakthrough, introducing a modern framework based on transparency and equal treatment.
Referring to the creation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, he said that this was a founding act of a new era, affirming the government’s commitment to a transparent, modern and clean system at the service of the DRC’s development. In 15 years,’ said Paul Mavulu, ’the results are encouraging, but a number of challenges remain to be overcome, namely the lack of transparency, admissibility and monitoring in the execution of public contracts. In the face of these challenges, he added, the Prime Minister is keen to affirm the government’s determination to put an end to corruption by digitizing the public procurement system, by speeding up the introduction of an electronic platform to improve traceability and transparency, by combating corruption by strengthening the mechanisms for monitoring and detecting public procurement, and by promoting ethics and admissibility by instilling a culture of integrity through awareness-raising. Mr Claude Kayembe Mbay, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, pointed out that the national public procurement system stems from a reform in the DRC that was first developed in the early 2000s with the resumption of cooperation with technical and financial partners, and was first evaluated in 2004. He pointed out that the corollary of all these steps was the creation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARMP) on June 2nd, 2010, whose mission is to ensure the regularization of public procurement in the DRC. In 15 years, ARMP has a Director General, a Deputy CEO, a Board of Directors, a College of Auditors, 6 central directorates and 10 provincial directorates. He added that ARMP also has 153 managers and staff, 30% of whom are women. Mr Claude Kayembe also pointed out that in 5 years, his institution has trained 1,695 people in public procurement, registered 2,678 contracts and carried out 11 public procurement audits. In addition, as part of its collaboration with judicial institutions, ARMP will be training 100 magistrates on 16 June, with a view to providing them with better tools and enabling them to manage public procurement disputes effectively. For his part, Mr Armand Ciamala Kanyinda, Chairman of ARMP’s Board of Directors, said in his opening remarks that this public body had experienced difficult times from 2010 to 2017, adding that it was not until 2018, when the rate of regularization fees was set, that the body would be revived. He also maintained that since 2023, ARMP has been marked by profitability, cohesion and harmony. The ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority ended with the presentation of trophies to former members of the government who were involved in its creation, as well as certificates to the pioneers of the ARMP, including the Expert Trainer in Public Procurement and university lecturer Mr Georges Libwa Mokonzi.