The National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) with funding from the EU and sponsored by the National Authorising Office has ended a one day regional training on the Public Procurement Manual, procurement reporting, procurement planning, records management and contract management at the Eastern Polytechnic UNAMSIL hall in Kenema. In his statement, NPPA CEO Ibrahim Brima Swarray called on participants to do their best to acquire the knowledge.
He said the NPPA Act was reviewed in 2016 followed by the Regulations in 2020, adding that “the engagement is not just about the training but to see how you all will practicalize it”. Swarray furthered that the manual was launched to interpret the Act and Regulations, calling the manual a handbook for all practicing procurement people inclusive of vault controllers. He said everyone that deals with public money “needs to be conversant with the book”.
The NPPA CEO said they are touring the country to see how practitioners and those that are interested or use public funds are trained on the day to day utilisation of public funds. The bulk of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) was on procurement abnormalities, he said, and assured all that in this dispensation NPPA will not encourage such a thing to happen across the country. He said they are not only enforcing the law, but want to ensure that they train people that use public fund to follow due processes.
When the president was campaigning a few years ago he campaigned under the platform that he would be taking the fight to corruption by minimising linkages and ensuring that public funds are used for their intended purposes, he said, adding that as NPPA is the preventive arm of corruption, they will not sit by and allow it to happen.
As NPPA they will not wait for COIs and audit reports to come out and show grey areas, but they will prevent it, he promised. Allieu Moigboi, NPPA Director of Capacity Building, assured his audience that the best will be delivered, and called on all to do everything in the best interest of the nation.
By Saffa B. Moriba in Kenema