(a). The Act provides for the minimum qualification of a person who wishes to participate in public procurement process through tendering. It is the responsibility of the procurement entity to check the qualifications of tenders to these minimum requirements.
A tenderer in public procurement shall:

• Possess necessary competences (professional, technical and environmental), capabilities (managerial, reliability, experience, reputation) and resources (financial, equipment and personnel). This should be evidenced by certificates, evidence of past work done, and submission of financial statements and bank statements for verification.
• Have the legal capacity to enter into the contract. This is checked by examining the certificate of incorporation of a company, for instance.
• Meet ethical and other applicable standards applicable in the country.
• Be solvent, not be in receivership, bankrupt or in the process of being wound up, not having its business activities suspended.
• Have fulfilled its obligations to pay taxes, social security contribution and pollution compensation. The submission of tax clearance certificate, clearance certificate from Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
• Have directors who have no criminal records or have been disqualified by administrative suspension or debarment. Tenderer declaration may be enough.
• Meet other objectively justifiable criteria set by the procurement entity which are not discriminatory.

(b). (i) Rules for rejection of tenders
A procurement entity may reject tenders, proposal and quotations any time prior to acceptance if the grounds for the rejection are specified in the tender documents. The ground for rejection are communicated to the tenderer but justification for rejection are not required. No liability arises to the procurement entity upon rejection. Notice of rejection must be given to participating tenders within days from the date the procurement entity decides to discontinue the tender process. If the decision to reject tenders is taken before the closing date, tenders received shall be returned unopened to the tenderers submitting them.

(ii) Rules for suspension or cancellation of procurement proceedings
Under Section 22 of the Act, the governing board of the Public Procurement Authority may suspend a supplier or consultant from engaging in any public procurement or disposal process for a period determined by the board. The suspension action may be based on either the recommendation of a procurement entity or an investigation initiated by the board itself. The grounds of suspension include:

• Unsatisfactory performance by Auditor General
• Failures to substantially perform its obligation under the contract
• Suspension of supplier by a professional body for misconduct
• Non-compliance to obligations under an Act of Parliament.
• Conviction of corrupt practices or fraudulent act under this Act.
  In relation to cancellation of procurement proceedings the Act provides that procurement entity may cancel procurement proceedings before the expiry of the deadline for submission of tenders where there is:
• Discovery of an imperfection in the wording of request for submission of tenders which could mislead supplier
• Decision to carry out the work in house by itself
• A cut in the budget for the contract
• No bid submission
• Exceptional circumstances or force majeure render the normal performance of the contract impossible
• The economic or technical data of the project has fundamentally changed