A two day summit on National Public Procurement has ended on Wednesday at the British Council Hall in Freetown. Organized by Transparency International Sierra Leone (TISL) in partnership with Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), the summit had as its theme: “Joint Action advocating for effective adherence to procurement laws and regulations”.
The summit attracted Procurement Officers from six councils, contractors, officials from National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA), civil society and the media. The summit was supported by TRoCAIRE, Irish Aid, DFID and Christian Aid
NMJD Program Director for Governance and Accountability, Joseph Pokawa explained that about 80% of government resources go into procurement. He added that the objective of the summit 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 were not being used, adding that there are lot of difficulties in procurement.
He hoped that at end of the training he will see changes in the way councils undertake procurement processes
Makeni City Council Procurement Officer, Gibril Thomas Mambu said that he has learnt about the relationship between procurement officers and the civil society. He added that late disbursement of funds is of great concern to the Council for projects to be implemented on time.
He reiterated that the summit was very relevant to him because he has learnt about his lapses and hopes to address these lapses when he returns.
He expected that all Procurement Officers should stick to their work and do a perfect job that goes in compliance with the Procurement Laws. One of the main challenges his council is facing, he said is mobility to visit project implementation sites.
A member of the Western Area Rural District Budget Oversight Committee, Jonathan Pearce said he has learnt so many lessons among which are compliance with the Procurement Rules and Regulations. “We observed that some contracts were spilt to avoid the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) process and to invoke the Request For Quotation (RFQ) process which somehow creates opportunity for corruption”
He added that it is evident that most projects have been completed but it is not operational which means the process of procurement is not yet complete.
Mr Pearce noted that the summit has increased his capacity in monitoring and increased his knowledge level about procurement procedures, adding that he wants to see sharp improvement in the implementation of projects in the Councils.
President National Contractors Union, Aroun Papay Jalloh, said that this summit is very important because it pertains to procurement and procurement is part of the bidding process. “Most of my colleagues’ contractors do not read bid documents and this has been a challenge”. He said he hopes to organize training to increase their capacity because some contractors come into the industry for the money involved.
He revealed that he will convene a meeting to explain about knowledge gained. Most of the crucial challenges “we faced with the Council is late disbursement of funds for project implementation.” The six councils presented how they are operating the Procurement Laws. One of the big problems highlighted was the low salaries paid to Procurement Officers and late release of funds by the Ministry of Finance and political interference in the procurement process.
By Abibatu Kamara
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