By Alpha Abu
A good number of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) have been acknowledged for following due process in their procurement dealings. This was contained in the National Public Procurement Authority NPPA’s second-quarter bulletin for the year 2021 that was formally launched at Tower Hill, Freetown on Tuesday 30th November 2021.
The bulletin covers activities related to the acquisition of Goods and Services by MDAs over the period. The publication contains findings by NPPA on the procurement performances of the MDAs. Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agencies (SMEDA’s) it was stated, that they presented procurement request for 6 new vehicles, 32 new motor bikes, 40 computers and 17 printers. NPPA confirmed SMEDA to have followed due process and therefore endorsed the evaluation committee’s recommendation for the process to continue to the next phase. The Ministry of Transport and Aviation also had its procurement request for 2 vehicles endorsed by NPPA following its careful review of the documents provided.
The Ministry of Technical and Higher Education’s request for the supply of laboratory equipment and reagents for two tertiary institutions was given a clean bill of health by NPPA.
Other government-related institutions such as Rokel Commercial Bank in requesting for the use of Sole Source for the procurement of additional works for safety and security surveillance system, and upgrade the implementation of Information Technology- a core banking application, got NPPA approval. Statistics Sierra Leone also got credited for its handling of sole sourcing for the airfreighting of 20,000 tablets and 20,000 power banks for the 2021 Mid-Term Population and Housing Census. NPPA noted that “Stats.SL’s key justification of time, cost, complex nature of the equipment, and the urgency of the situation met the criteria set in section 46 (1) of the Public Procurement Act of 2016. Its request was granted,” it reads.
The government’s procurement regulatory entity however stated that it apparently earlier, denied Statistics Sierra Leone's request for the procurement of 18,000 Android Tablets after it was discovered by the Authority that “procedural due diligence was not followed in the evaluation of the bids, hence the decision of the procurement committee was not endorsed by the Authority”. Also, the request for procurement of rice by the Sierra Leone Police was not approved by NPPA and the law enforcement institution was instead advised to re-evaluate all bids. NPPA found the police wanting on “procedural due diligence”. Approval was only later granted to the police after a Re-evaluation of the rice procurement procedures by the Authority following the technical evaluation committees.
Kenema District Council got approval from the Authority for the bids presented to construct Stalls, Metropolitan Post, Bridges, and Culverts along various streets in Kenema, after a detailed review of the procedural process that the council had followed.
NPPA denied Kenema District Council’s request for restricted bidding for the construction of 1 Bridge and 4 Culverts along the Konta –Gbandi Feeder road in Gorama -Mende Chiefdom in the Kenema district. The Authority stated that the justification put forward by the council “did not warrant the use of restricted bidding”.
Sierra Leone Water Company’s request for the 6 Towns Water Supply Project was put on hold after the Authority asked for clarification on how the funds are to be utilised.
Also, the Bank of Sierra Leone’s request for the use of the sole source for the procurement of motor vehicles from MESSRS CICA Motor Sierra Leone Ltd was not granted. According to NPPA, the decision was taken after a thorough review of the document submitted, which it said did not meet the requirement in the public procurement Act.
Offices such as the National Fire Force, Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority, Western Area District Council, National Council for Social Action (NaCSA), and College of Medicine and Allied health Sciences, had their various procurement requests approved by NPPA.
It is also worth mentioning that a good number of firms and other businesses were named in the White Paper in the aftermath of the recommendations of the Commissions of Inquiry Some of these businesses and individuals had their operations suspended. The Authority had in its latest bulletin named All-Umar Ventures, Bullom Construction and General Services, Guoji Construction and Investment Company, and BDO and Samuel A Noldred, of having been permitted by the Office of the Attorney General to resume their dealings with the government.
NPPA’s Chief Executive Officer told journalists that he won’t be ruffled by what he said is his mandate to cut down wastage of state resources. He said he was at first worried when he began losing friends in the course of his work, but admitted to have weathered the storm and was no longer bothered, as long as he felt the right thing was being done.
Copyright © Politico Online 03/12/21
