A total of P210 million was spent on 17 companies for the procurement of COVID-19 health products, Minister of Finance and Economic Development Dr. Thapelo Matsheka said in parliament.
He was responding to a question from Leader of the Opposition Dumelang Saleshando, who wanted a breakdown on government expenditure on COVID-19 Medical equipment. The P210 million procurement was done by the Ministry of Health and Wellness as well as the Ministry of Presidential Affairs Governance and Public Administration. All of the companies were directly appointed and no tenders were issued. Exactly 8 companies from Botswana and 1 South African company were engaged for the procurement of PPE.
Further, 1 Botswana company was engaged for contact tracing while 6 Chinese companies were directly appointed for the procurement of testing kits, and detection kits. Some Lab Commodities were also purchased from UNICEF.