By Francis Kamara
The National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA), on Thursday 5th May 2022, launched its fourth quarter (2021) Bullentin. The event took place in the conference hall of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Tower Hill, Freetown – with the theme: ‘Preventing Leakages in Public Procurement’.
Mr. Ibrahim Swarray further said that the National Public Procurement Authority has much to offer the nation. “We should not just see procurement as the buying and selling of products, but the correct data of procurement landscape that can influence decision makers,” he said.
He emphasized that “the decisions we make with good data and statistics will ensure the successive fight against corruption.” Mr. Ibrahim Swarray mentioned that the overdependence on global funding has created problems for us as a nation, because foreign partners have certain indicators that they want accomplished before they can lend out money, which is very challenging. “But lucky enough for us at the National Public Procurement Authority, we have passed almost all the indicators that were set by the IMF and the World Bank,” the NPPA Boss noted.
See Report Legal & Corporate Affairs Directorate, NPPANational Public Procurement Authority
THE NPPA LAUNCHES THE FOURTH QUARTER 2021 PUBLIC PROCUREMENT BULLETIN
On the 5th May, 2022, the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) launched the fourth quarter 2021 Public Procurement Bulletin at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Tower Hill, Freetown.
Pursuant to section 14 (2) (i) of the Public Procurement Act, 2016, the NPPA is mandated to publish a quarterly Public Procurement Bulletin which shall contain information on approved procurement plans, proposed procurement notices, notices of invitation to bid, contract award information and other pertinent information.
In his statement, Mr. Easmond Alpha, a representative from the Procurement Directorate in the Ministry of Finance (MOF), congratulated the Board, Chief Executive, and staff of the NPPA for providing leadership over the enormous success in the public procurement landscape, ranging from policy reforms, end to end reviews, publication of the Public Procurement Price Norm, Public Procurement Bulletin and other countless successes. He noted that the Public Procurement Bulletin is a “valuable currency” that informs public procurement practitioners and other stakeholders about happenings in the public procurement sector, and sets the agenda for policy formulation. Thus, he called on public procurement practitioners and other stakeholders to get themselves abreast with the issues discussed in the fourth quarter 2021 Public Procurement Bulletin and give an academic input to the document.
The Board Chairman of the NPPA, Mr. Alfred H. Kandeh in his statement said that the Public Procurement Bulletin is a beautiful document that the Authority (NPPA) has added a lot of important information to over the past years. He informed the audience present and other stakeholders that they have the opportunity to contribute to the Bulletin and other documents of the NPPA, and they should play their own part in making the NPPA and public procurement management effective and efficient. He implored public procurement practitioners and other stakeholders to read the fourth quarter 2021 Public Procurement Bulletin and make meaningful contributions to subsequent publications. He concluded by congratulating the Chief Executive and staff of the NPPA for their immense contribution to the excellent performance of the Authority.
In his statement, the Chief Executive, Ibrahim Brima Swarray, underscored the importance of data analysis and expenditure tracking to the development of Sierra Leone. He stressed that accurate data on public procurement will enhanced decision making and policy formulation by the Government. He stated that the Bulletin contains information on expenditure and that such information can be used by both Government and donor to formulate policies and make decisions. He informed that over the past years, Bulletins published by the Authority contained ‘procurement savings of over a trillion Leones (Le) made largely by the NPPA preventing Government from entering into bad contracts.
The Chief Executive bemoaned the fact after four years, the fourth quarter 2021 Bulletin contained information on procuring entities that failed to provide information on their procurement activities through the submission of the Standard Procurement Form 6 to the Authority. He concluded by reminding procurement practitioners that failure to provide information to the Authority upon demand is in breach of the Public Procurement Act, 2016 and that such breach attracts sanctions.
The program was climaxed with questions and answers.
For more information, contact:
Legal & Corporate Affairs Directorate, NPPA
National Public Procurement Authority
OAU Drive, Tower Hill, Freetown
Email: info@publicprocurement.gov.sl
Website: www.publicprocurement.gov.sl
Phone: 232 75902460/ +232 88789329
