guest column:Tapfumanei D Java The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (PPDPA) was enacted to ensure that procurement is effected in a manner that is transparent, fair, honest, cost-effective and competitive among other objectives. The PPDPA Act clearly demands that public procurement must promote the integrity, fairness and confidence in procurement processes. The promulgation and operationalisation of the Act in 2017 and 2018 brought hope that the nation was moving away from the archaic Procurement Act 22:14 which had been overtaken by time as well as not in sync with global best practices. The past two years in the implementation of the Act have been marred with teething problems both at the regulator and procuring entity levels with the latter resisting change while the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) realised that it could not fully enforce the provisions of the Act on entities. There have been many tests to the effectiveness of the Act like the Cyclone Idai emergency procurement and the economic environment in general where PRAZ has been issuing guidelines and increased capacity building, however, nothing of the COVID-19 pandemic magnitude has been experienced as yet. The pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented challenges upon every nation, affecting the conduct of business, disrupting supply chains and exacerbating corruption. The global supply chains have been adversely affected, thereby calling for governments to intervene both in the private and public domains. The effects of COVID-19 lockdowns meant that private sector spending was drastically reduced, at the same time public spending spiralled as governments across the world strove to strengthen their public health systems. Devex, a development consulting organisation, reported that the pandemic sparked panic procurement globally which was not only limited to consumers but governments as they scrambled to secure masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) while also trying to respond to the supply chain disruptions within their health systems. The increase in public spending meant that transparency was needed more than ever before as emergency procurement contracts increased, thereby exposing various governments to procurement risks. Most countries temporarily suspended public procurement procedures to allow for emergency procurement. But for accountability and reporting mechanisms, PRAZ issued guidelines for procurement of COVID-19-related requirements under circular number 1 of 2020. Though the efforts were laudable, they, however, lacked a follow-up and monitoring mechanism, leaving the whole system open to abuse and mis-procurements. The local newspapers have been replete with reports of COVID-19 procurement malpractices particularly at NatPham, Health ministry and Drax International which is still before the courts. The above case is just a tip of the iceberg. The post-review of COVID-19 procurement records requested by PRAZ through circular number 3 of 2020 will unearth a lot of procurement irre