By Alpha Abu
The National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) will this Friday June 4 open its first eastern region branch in Kenema city, as part of its drive to decentralise the procurement process in the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of NPPA Ibrahim Brima Swarray told Politico that the initiative is in fulfilment of the government’s desire for efficiency and service delivery to the doorsteps of the people in the provinces.
He said NPPA wants to reduce the bureaucracy surrounding the process, and that’s why they are taking the institution to Kenema.
Swarray said the Local Councils in Kenema, Kailahun and Kono and government institutions would avoid the challenges involved with travelling to Bo and would instead have all their procurement activities and documents brought to the Kenema NPPA office for processing.
“We just want to augment and support government in the decentralisation drive’’, Swarray explained.
He stated that local councils undertake a lot of activities and NPPA as a regulatory institution would want to be very close to them and see how the Authority can regulate and improve on their output.
The NPPA's rigid monitoring of Public Procurement Processes and Procedures and its strict requirements for diligent compliance regimen have resulted in the saving of funds amounting to millions of dollars over the last 3 years.
It has blocked or demanded reversal of contracts where irregularities were discovered.
According to the Chief Executive Officer when he assumed office on the 14 June 2018, the Authority had only 17 workers but that the staff strength has increased to over 112 following the introduction of transformative initiatives.
It has also been revealed that the Authority will soon introduce electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) which when fully implemented will enhance transparency, accountability, fairness, accuracy in reporting, security of bids, streamlining of government processes and maximising of time and energy of all parties involved in public procurement, as opposed to the manual system.
In addressing the weaknesses inherited in the institution in terms of infrastructure and operations, the vision of the administration has been translated into face-lifting the institution and the implementation of stringent and robust measures. Problems that plagued the sector since the Public Procurement Act of 2016 have been addressed through operational and infrastructural transformations thereby restoring public, donor and government trust in the institution as a regulatory body that curbs wastages.
There are already NPPA offices in Makeni and Bo, apart from the headquarters in Freetown.
The NPPA came into being with the enactment of the Public Procurement Act of 2004 as repealed and replaced by the Public Procurement Act of 2016 charged with the task of regulating, monitoring and advising government on all public procurement related issues on goods, works and services across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
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