By Prince J. Musa in Kenema
In a bid to ensure an effective procurement system, the National Public Procurement Authority NPPA has on the 1st of March 2021 introduced the electronic procurement system to government, private and civil society organizations through a nationwide sensitization exercise in Kenema.
The Project Manager of the facility at Ministry of Finance, Adams Tommy told the gathering that the government wants to implement the electronic government procurement process as a way of managing government resources. "NPPA wants to use electronic printing machines not human beings," he said.
According to Tommy, the aim is to do major reforms in public procurement through applying an electronic system for all public procurement processes and that the government wants its citizens to understand the significance of using electronic government procurement as a way to avoid human engagement in public procurement, and so help government save more resources instead of using the old system which allows more resources to be spent on procurement.
In his statement, the Acting Director of the Procurement Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Fodie J Konneh said the introduction of electronic government procurement is a new action that the NPPA leadership and the Ministry of Finance are implementing for the first time in Sierra Leone and "It will facilitate the transformation of procurement by allowing electronic machines to do more of the work in government institutions in procurement thus reducing human labour."
He added that the electronic government procurement will help mitigate corruption and ensure transparency and accountability in procurement processing in public institutions. Konneh said the introduction of the E-government procurement will be faster and will encourage effective and efficient service delivery to ensure timeliness and prevent the use of more paperwork.
He said the electronic procurement will prevent the issue of forgery in the procurement process and called on all not to see the electronic government procurement process as any threat to people but to allow the government to save more income for the country.
The Director of Legal Affairs, NPPA Francis Momoh Gbaya catalogued the legal instruments in national public procurement and the penalties that follow for defaulters.
He cautioned the MDA's to embrace the coming of the electronic government procurement process so that it will ease the procurement procedures in public institutions.
The campaign attracted participants from Kailahun and Kenema districts.
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