This paper discusses some of the ingredients for building stronger systems. It examines public procurement – the purchasing of goods and services by government departments or state-owned enterprises – which involves enormous sums of money, and therefore can provide avenues for corruption and dishonesty. Procurement fraud is behind many of the mega-scandals over the last decade in Kenya, Nigeria, Lesotho, South Africa and many other countries, both developed and developing. Rules can be bent and broken. The author examines the raft of measures needed to tighten tendering.
