Corruption and Fraud Prevention in Public Procurement Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Public Procurement Managers, Procurement Officers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-P-075

Before you join: Participants should have basic experience of procurement, contract administration, finance controls, compliance or internal audit.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Public procurement can lose funds, delay services and undermine confidence when officials, suppliers or intermediaries manipulate requirements, competition, evaluations, contract changes or invoices. The damage is not limited to obvious bribery: collusive bidding, undisclosed conflicts, tailored specifications, fictitious vendors and false receiving records can bypass ordinary controls. Procurement teams need defensible decisions, evidence trails and controls that work from planning to final payment.

This course examines corruption and fraud risks across the procurement cycle, from needs assessment and supplier prequalification to tender evaluation, contract management and payment. Participants learn to distinguish fraud, bribery, collusion and conflicts of interest; identify red flags; assess procurement fraud risks; and apply preventive, detective and corrective controls. The programme uses recognised references including UNCAC Article 9, the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement, ISO 37001 and the COSO Fraud Risk Management Guide.

Teaching combines focused briefings with public-sector cases, document reviews, group analysis, tender simulations and structured application planning. Cases address situations such as emergency purchasing, bid-rigging, beneficial ownership concealment, contract variations and invoice fraud. Participants leave with a procurement fraud risk register, red-flag matrix, control design checklist and a practical action plan for their own procurement remit.

The course is suited to procurement professionals, contract managers, compliance personnel, internal auditors and managers responsible for public expenditure, donor-funded purchasing or regulated tendering.

What you will be able to do

  • Map corruption and fraud exposure across each stage of the public procurement cycle
  • Assess procurement fraud risks using a COSO-based risk assessment method
  • Detect bribery, collusion, conflict-of-interest and invoice-fraud red flags
  • Design preventive and detective controls for tendering, contracting and payment processes
  • Apply transparent tender evaluation and bidder communication protocols
  • Conduct proportionate supplier due diligence, beneficial ownership checks and conflict reviews
  • Manage allegation triage, evidence preservation and investigation governance
  • Produce a corrective action plan with control owners, deadlines and verification measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Recognise corruption and fraud indicators before award, contract signature or payment
  • Make documented procurement decisions that withstand audit and challenge
  • Investigate procurement concerns using an evidence-led triage process
  • Apply supplier due diligence and conflict-of-interest checks with greater consistency
  • Build credibility for procurement, compliance, audit or contract management roles

For your organisation

  • Reduce exposure to bid-rigging, bribery, false invoicing and conflicted awards
  • Strengthen audit trails for tender decisions, exceptions, variations and payments
  • Improve supplier screening, beneficial ownership review and debarment controls
  • Increase detection of control failures through targeted red flags and data tests
  • Provide managers with clear remediation actions after suspected procurement misconduct

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can map integrity vulnerabilities and accountability points across the public procurement cycle.

  • Public procurement cycle mapped from needs assessment through contract closeout
  • UNCAC Article 9 principles for transparent, objective procurement systems
  • Integrity vulnerabilities created by discretion, urgency, complexity and information asymmetry
  • Separate fraud, corruption, collusion and conflicts of interest classifications
  • Three-lines model roles for management, compliance, internal audit and oversight
  • Control ownership assigned across requisition, tender, award, receipt and payment

Participants can identify common corruption schemes and collusive bidding patterns in tender activity.

  • Bribery typologies involving kickbacks, facilitation payments, gifts and hospitality
  • Bid-rigging indicators under OECD Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging
  • Detect split purchases, tailored specifications and unjustified single-source awards
  • Supplier collusion patterns: cover bidding, bid suppression, rotation and allocation
  • Red-flag matrices link scheme indicators to records and data sources
  • Payment manipulation through false invoices, duplicate billing and inflated quantities

Participants can identify procurement fraud methods and select appropriate data-based detection tests.

  • Fraud triangle applied to procurement pressures, opportunities and rationalisation
  • Vendor master-file controls prevent fictitious suppliers and unauthorised bank changes
  • Three-way matching tests purchase orders, receipts, invoices and payment approvals
  • Change-order analysis identifies scope creep, inflated rates and duplicate work
  • Inventory receipt fraud detected through quantity tolerances and inspection evidence
  • Analytics test duplicate invoices, round sums, weekend payments and threshold clustering

Participants can establish governance arrangements and documentation standards that support accountable procurement.

  • Map delegated authorities, approval limits and segregation-of-duties requirements
  • OECD Recommendation principles applied to integrity, transparency and accountability
  • Write conflict-of-interest declarations, recusals and register maintenance procedures
  • Document emergency procurement decisions using necessity, proportionality and approval evidence
  • Establish audit trails for specifications, evaluations, award decisions and variations
  • Set retention schedules for procurement records, communications and supplier submissions

Participants can conduct a structured fraud risk assessment and prioritise treatment actions.

  • Fraud risk assessment follows COSO Fraud Risk Management Guide
  • Define risk scenarios by process step, actor, incentive and control gap
  • Score inherent risk using likelihood, impact, velocity and persistence criteria
  • Assess residual risk after preventive, detective and corrective controls
  • Build risk registers with owners, treatments, due dates and evidence
  • Prioritise monitoring using heat maps and key risk indicators

Participants can design proportionate controls that prevent misconduct during sourcing and contract delivery.

  • Segregation of duties separates specification, evaluation, approval, receipt and payment
  • Prequalification criteria test ownership, sanctions, capacity and past performance
  • Specification controls prevent brand bias, restrictive criteria and hidden preferences
  • Apply approval gates to exceptions, variations and single-source justifications
  • Contract management controls verify deliverables, milestones, quantities and acceptance
  • ISO 37001 anti-bribery controls inform proportionate procurement procedures

Participants can conduct risk-based supplier checks and manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

  • Beneficial ownership checks identify concealed relationships and politically exposed persons
  • Screen suppliers against sanctions, debarment lists and adverse media
  • Use risk-based due diligence tiers before onboarding and contract renewal
  • Conflict reviews compare staff declarations, vendor data and evaluation records
  • Supplier codes address bribery, subcontracting, reporting and audit rights
  • Monitor subcontractor changes, beneficial ownership updates and payment destinations

Participants can apply transparent tender procedures and defend evaluation decisions with complete evidence.

  • Design open tender procedures with clear timelines and equal information access
  • Evaluation committees use confidentiality, conflict and scoring protocols
  • Weighted scoring models document technical, financial and lifecycle-cost assessments
  • Control bidder communications through formal clarifications and recorded addenda
  • Publish award notices with defensible reasons and required disclosures
  • Debrief unsuccessful bidders without disclosing protected competitor information

Participants can manage allegations, preserve evidence and support a properly governed investigation process.

  • Whistleblowing channels protect confidentiality, anonymity, non-retaliation and case routing
  • Triage allegations using credibility, materiality, urgency and evidence-preservation criteria
  • Preserve emails, tender files, devices and transaction records lawfully
  • Investigation plans define scope, interview sequence, evidence sources and governance
  • Data analytics identifies related vendors, unusual pricing and payment anomalies
  • Report findings using factual chronology, corroboration, control failures and recommendations

Participants can plan proportionate incident response, remediation and ongoing procurement integrity monitoring.

  • Immediate response protocols secure evidence, suspend payments and manage notifications
  • Root-cause analysis distinguishes individual misconduct from process control failures
  • Corrective action plans assign owners, deadlines, resources and verification measures
  • Remediation tracking tests whether revised controls operate as intended
  • Management reporting combines incident trends, risk indicators and control status
  • Personal application plans target priority vulnerabilities within participants' procurement remit

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Procurement fraud risk register template
  2. Corruption and fraud red-flag matrix
  3. Tender integrity control checklist
  4. Supplier due diligence tiering model
  5. Allegation triage and evidence-preservation checklist
  6. Procurement integrity action plan

Who should attend

  • Public Procurement Managers — responsible for protecting tender and contract processes from misconduct
  • Procurement Officers — need practical controls for sourcing, evaluation and supplier management
  • Contract Managers — monitor variations, deliverables, invoices and acceptance evidence
  • Compliance and Ethics Officers — design anti-bribery procedures and investigate reported concerns
  • Internal Auditors — assess procurement controls, test red flags and report control weaknesses
  • Programme and Finance Managers — oversee public or donor-funded expenditure and approval decisions

Skills and tools covered

Procurement fraud assessmentAnti-bribery controlsBid-rigging detectionSupplier due diligenceTender integrityInvestigation governance

Tools and standards

United Nations Convention against Corruption, Article 9, OECD Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement, ISO 37001 Anti-bribery management systems, COSO Fraud Risk Management Guide

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish methods, standards and control principles, followed by public procurement cases and facilitated group analysis. Participants review tender documents, supplier information, evaluation records, contract variations and payment data to identify vulnerabilities and red flags. Simulations cover conflicted evaluations, bid-rigging indicators and allegation triage. Structured discussion compares control choices for routine, emergency and high-risk procurement. Each participant develops an application plan linked to priority risks within their own purchasing responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic experience of procurement, contract administration, finance controls, compliance or internal audit. They should understand common procurement documents such as requisitions, specifications, tender submissions, purchase orders, contracts and invoices. Familiarity with their employer's approval rules and procurement policy is useful. The course does not require legal training, forensic accounting qualifications, statistical modelling skills or previous investigation experience. Participants working in public bodies, state-owned enterprises, development programmes or regulated organisations will gain the most immediate application.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic procurement processes or have related experience in compliance, finance, contract management or internal audit. No legal, forensic accounting or investigation qualification is required.

Bring your organisation's procurement policy, delegation limits, supplier due diligence process or tender templates if you may share them appropriately. These documents help participants identify practical improvements, but they are not mandatory.

The programme suits public procurement managers, procurement officers, contract managers, compliance staff, internal auditors and expenditure approvers. It also applies to staff managing donor-funded or state-owned enterprise procurement.

General procurement courses focus on sourcing strategy, tendering and contract administration. This course concentrates on misconduct risks, anti-bribery controls, fraud detection, supplier integrity and incident response.

Participants can use the risk register, red-flag matrix and control checklist to review a live procurement process. The application plan identifies priority actions, accountable owners and evidence of completion.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The 32.5 hours combine instructor input, case analysis, document review, group exercises, simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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