The National Public Procurement Authority was established by an Act of Parliament in 2004 to regulate, monitor and advise Government on issues relating to Public Procurement. As part of its functions as slated in section 14: 2(b) and (m) of the Public Procurement Act 2016 as amended, the NPPA conducts Annual Procurement Assessment Reviews (APAR) which culminate into a report on the overall functioning of procurement systems across Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
In conducting the Annual Procurement Assessment Reviews, the NPPA uses a paper-based method of collecting data through a structured questionnaire, manually input and analyze the data prior to reporting. The challenges associated with the process include time consumption, inefficiency, labour intensity, optimum use of stationery and lack of adequately trained staff to analyze the data causing inaccuracies in the final report.
The transformative Chief Executive, Ibrahim Brima Swarray has vowed to inject digitalization of the Annual Procurement Assessment come 2021. He said that the proposed solution will be digitizing the manual method of collecting, inputting analysing of procurement data across Ministries, Departments and Agencies including Local Councils. “In 2022, data will be collected on digital devices and online, using survey questionnaires linked to a back end analytical platform with calculations usually created in real-time and then displayed on the NPPA website and other platforms as the law permits”, he reaffirmed.
Mr. Swarray recalled that the core function of every government institution is service delivery; ensuring that Government Manifesto promised to its people are achieved. Public Procurement plays a very significant role in all of it. Ministries, Departments and Agencies including Local Councils he stressed are responsible to implement policies directly from the Central Government. In doing so he said, annual budgets and procurement strategies are developed. “The budget and procurement plans outline the goods, works and Services to be procured to address the citizen’s needs including good roads, electricity, safe drinking water and so on. The annual procurement assessment report evaluates the processes and procedures used to procure the public goods by ensuring the Government pays less for very high quality”, he noted.
The NPPA Boss maintained that the Annual Procurement Report if produced timely will enable the government to map out its expenditure pattern; identify areas of improvement for policy intervention and capacity building.
In 2018, the Government of Sierra Leone through Ministries, Departments, and Agencies spent Seven Hundred and Thirty-five Billion, Four Hundred and Twenty-one Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-seven Thousand, seven Hundred and Fifty-two Leones (725,421,852) on procurement activities.
Five Thousand six Hundred and Eighty-Nine (5,689) procurement activities across the board covered by the above amount of the money in the Western Area.
The procurement Chief also stated that in line with global best practice they, as a regulatory body were also mandated to regularly present to Parliament how they had monitored and regulated procurement activities across the Country.
The 2019 and 2020 reports are on-going and will be in detail.
To succeed, a digital procurement strategy is necessary for all procurement experts and must be implemented intelligently. Digital technology can help procurement increase collaboration, analysis and engagement using a portfolio of tools along the entire procurement value chain including planning, sourcing, contract management, order delivery, payment control and supply management.
For more enquires, please contact Legal and Corporate Affairs Directorate at NPPA, OAU Drive, Tower Hill, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Tel:+23288789329/+23275902460
