A two-day high-level meeting on National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) ended yesterday at the British Council Hall in Freetown, organized by Transparency International-Sierra Leone (TI-SL) in partnership with Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) on the theme, ‘Joint action advocating for effective adherence to procurement laws and regulations’.
The meeting supported by TRoCAIRE, Irish Aid and DfID, attracted procurement officers from civil society groups, contractors; officials of the NPPA, the media and officials of six local councils.
NMJD Program Director for Governance and Accountability, Joseph Pokawa explained that about 80% of government resources go to procurement. He added that the objective of the meeting was for the participants to know about procurement procedures; how much goes to public procurement and how people benefit from procurement.
Mr. Pokawa stated that since the Procurement Act was passed in 2004, regulations and manuals have been developed but are not used by the officials they are intended for, adding that there are lots of difficulties in procurement. He hoped to see changes in the attitudes of these officials that at end of the sessions.
Makeni City Council Procurement Officer, Gibril Thomas Mambu said that he has learnt about the relationship between procurement officers and the civil society, adding that late disbursement of funds has been a major problem for the implementation of projects by councils.
He encouraged Procurement Officers to always stick to their works and to do perfect jobs in consonance with the Procurement Laws of Sierra Leone. One of the main challenges his council is facing, he said is the lack of mobility to enhance visits of project implementation sites.
A member of the Bombali District Budget Oversight Committee, Jonathan Pearce said the meeting has increased his knowledge on procurement rules and regulations. He also admitted that his capacity in terms of monitoring and procurement procedures and processes has been greatly enhanced.
President of the National Contractors Union, Arun Papay Jalloh said the training was very important as it highlights all the various aspects of procurement, which he admitted are challenges to most of his union’s members.
He promised to disseminate the knowledge he has gained from the training by holding series of meetings with members across the board to ensure that they fully understand. He urged government to now speedily disburse funds meant for Councils so that projects they too undertake are implemented faster.
The six councils presented their procurement status reports and noted that poor salary of Procurement Officials undermines the effective implementation of the procurement laws and regulations.
By Abibatu Kamara
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