By Mustapha Sesay
Parliament on Tuesday sent a bill entitled ‘Public Procurement Act 2015’ to the Legislative Committee after a thorough debate on it by members.
The bill was introduced by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Alhaji Foday Mansaray, who said it was geared towards addressing the many challenges that surrounded procurement activities in the country. The bill, if passed into law, will augment loopholes that were left unaddressed in the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) Act of 2004.
Debating on the bill, APC Member of Parliament Patrick Lahai Kargbo of Constituent 39 in the Kambia district said misuse of State resources and rampart corruption were centre on the fact that procurement procedures were weak and that if they could be addressed as highlighted in the bill, it would contribute to the economic growth of the country.
MP Kargbo also said the bill would ensure accountability and value for money, adding that there were needs to improve the procurement system for a better and transparent regulation.
Komba Koedoyoma, SLPP Member of Parliament for Kono, said laws were made for a particular time and that before the enactment of the 2004 NPPA Act, there was no law that governed the procurement landscape. He noted that after the 2004 Act a lot had happen so that a new law was needed to address them.
MP Koedoyoma opposed the augment put forward by some of his colleagues that the bill was difficult to understand and that they needed more time to go through it. He said that was because his colleagues “don’t read even your standing order.”
He pointed out that one of the biggest problems with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was related to weak procurement regulations.
Also contributing to the debate, paramount Chief Member of Parliament, PC Sanka Bai Kurr Kana Gbaro of Tonkolili District said he wanted to see a strong bill that would address the issue of procurement in the country. He noted that there were a lot of fake companies that were reaping the resources of the country that needed to be regulated.
PC Gbaro observed that the bill should be given the strength that would ensure that government money was well spent, and also NPPA should have technocrats to that effect.
Opposition SLPP lawmaker, Paran Tarawalley, observed that the bill has no provision for the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer. This, he said, meant that the bill did not adequately address the issue of succession. He also pointed out that there was a need to include the procurement of second hand goods in the bill as that was a challenge during the Ebola audit saga, because the current law prohibited buying of second hand goods. During the outbreak, the opposition lawmaker said, second hand vehicles were bought by the Transport Ministry. MP Paran said clause 14.3 should be deleted from the bill because it empowered the custodians of the Act to give waver, which he observed was not in the best interest of the country, thus it was inimical. He called on the legislative committee to look on the issue strongly when the bill goes before them.
Majority Leader Ibrahim Bundu said the bill needed due diligence because 60 percent of government money was allocated to procurement. He then moved the motion that the bill should go to the legislative committee, which was seconded by the minority leader MP Bernadette Lahai.
(C) Politico 01/07/15
