As a way of ensuring effective procurement procedures and monitoring, the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) on Wednesday commissioned its first regional office in Makeni, Sierra Leone’s northern regional headquarters.
The NPPA was created through an Act of Parliament in 2004 with an objective to perform oversight functions and advise the government on sound procurement management.
While commissioning the new office situated on the Kabala Highway, the Mayor of Makeni City, Her Worship, Sunkarie Kabba-Kamara said the stride made by NPPA is impressive, noting in totality that strides made by the Authority in its short years of existence are “remarkable” noting that these have culminated in the extension of its operations in the orth as exemplified by the opening of the northern regional office. She indicated that the office will attract more developments in the country.
With reference to President Ernest Bai Koroma, she said she recognizes the fact that a public procurement policy and procedures should be consistent with and integrated into other relevant government policies, systems and procedures.
The Mayor maintained that “growth in development is not only an achievement in its own right”, but also “an indication of the dynamism of a country”. She maintained that Sierra Leone’s development stride is far from being static. She observed however that in spite of these development strides, the country continues to face challenges but that she is always up to them as they arise.
Mayor Sunkarie committed her council’s commitment to ensuring that procurement procedures as set out by the NPPA will be generally met. “We in the Makeni City Council also recognize the importance that our vendors, our staff and the general public conform to the set standards of NPPA in all public procurement processes,” she assured.
She went on to add that the City will further provide technical assistance to all government institutions to help in their implementations of procurements in line with the objectives set out in the NPPA Act.
The Chief Executive of NPPA, Brima Bangura gave a brief background of the Authority and the purpose of its creation. He explained that procurement is an old practice as it has been going on since independence. He said the process involves both centralization and decentralization processes. He said initially, procurement processes were centralized at the Ministry of Finance through the Central Tender Board until 2004 that it was decentralized with the establishment of the NPPA as a procurement regulatory body.
Highlighting some of the achievements the Authority has registered since its inception, the Chief Executive said they have been able to introduce procurement planning which has ensured more fiscal savings for government, performed trailing of procurement planning exercises with budget, helped government and procurement entities by guiding them through procurement activities and that the Authority is presently working on a review of the current NPPA Act.
The Chief maintained therefore that the opening of regional offices has been a longstanding concern to the Authority as a national institution. “This is why we are desirous of extending throughout the country to reflect our national character,” The Chief Executive affirmed.
He said knowledge about procurement and its processes are limited and weak in the northern region of the country, which is why they have initiated the spread in Makeni.
“The Makeni office will bring awareness to bear on stakeholders and ordinary citizens in that part of the country,” the Chief stated.
Bangura however noted that the Authority, in spite it huge successes, faces a number of challenges which include, inadequate finance and logistics, limited procurement knowledge amongst procurement officials in MDAs, with some members of MDA Procurement Committees directly partaking in procurement executions.
Outgone Board Chair, Alice Onomake in her remarks as Chairperson of the ceremony, said the Makeni office will create opportunities for procurement entities in the region to access capacity building and monitoring services and that the presence of NPPA in the region, “will ensure effective oversight, monitoring and professional growth of procurement officers in the various MDAs and Local Councils.”
The Northern Region Head of NPPA, Michelline Akinyoade thanked the government for decentralizing procurement activities as regulated by the Authority. She maintained that the overall objective for setting up the NPPA is to ensure value for money in government’s procurement of goods and services through a transparent, efficient and fair process.
She called on Procurement Officers and Procurement Committee members to regularly visit the office to enquire and or seek information on the process.
Statements were made by representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the Public Financial Management Reform Unit and from Paramount Chief Massa Yeli Tham, of Makari Gbanti chiefdom.
By Betty Milton
Friday May 30, 2014