Procurement Graduates - Sierra Leone

A warm welcome and lots of good wishes on becoming part of our growing team. Congratulations and on behalf of the Procurement Graduates team, I'm wishing everyone a blissful New Year 2022. A year of personal growth with positive mindset towards achieving that set goal, together we can make a change in Sierra Leone!
Once again, welcome to all new members from all academic Institutions.

Hello Colleagues, today our lesson will focus on Procurement ACTS AND REGULATIONS.

Public Procurement Acts and regulations. Simply, an act to regulate public procurement in the Government of the Republic and for related matters. This act may be cited as the public procurement act, it shall apply to all procurement undertaken by a procuring entity except where it is provided otherwise in the act.

The objective of the Authority is to harmonise the processes of public procurement in the public service to secure a judicious, economic and efficient use of state resources in public procurement and ensure that public procurement is carried out in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory, environmentally and socially sustainable manner.

Further down contains the public procurement acts and regulations and any other Act(s) and Regulations relating to Public Procurement.
(A) Public Procurement Regulations 2020
(B) The Anti Corruption Act, 2000
(C) The NRA Act, 2002
(D) The NASSIT Act, 2001
(E) The Local Government Act, 2004
(F) The Government Budgeting and Accountability Act, 2005
(G) The Public Procurement Act 2016

The above listed acts and regulations are documents that closely work with NPPA as a legit body.

However, I may close with this words. "Procurement is the overall process of acquiring goods, works and services including all functions from the identification of needs, selection and solicitation if sources, preparation and award of contract, and all phases of contract administration or the useful life of an asset."

Mr. Ibrahim Brima Swarray
(CE - NPPA)

Hello Colleagues, welcome to the month of September. We have been working closely with senior officials to bring you content and information within the parameters of Public Procurement Management in Sierra Leone.

Today, our opening lectures starts with the introduction of the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA).
The National Public Procurement Authority was established under the Public Procurement Act of 2004 to perform oversight functions and advise the Government of Sierra Leone on Public Procurement Management. Public Procurement is a significant means through which the government of Sierra Leone meets its development needs through the provisions of physical infrastructure and the supply of essential goods and services.

Since the establishment of NPPA, Public Procurement expenditure in Sierra Leone has increased significantly, thus bearing increasing pressure on NPPA more than ever before to perform it's duties more vigorously and in a more professional manners ensuring government of Sierra Leone spends it's money wisely and delivers best value for money.

Today, NPPA has it new Chief Executive Director as Mr Ibrahim Brima Swarray. With his experience and passion for his work, we have seen a new era of NPPA in Sierra Leone with decentralized operational system. It's regional offices are in Bo, Makeni and Kenema.
However, Mr Ibrahim Brima Swarray is proud of his recent engagement with procurement practitioners of all MDAs which ensures transparency and accountability in public procurement. He's very passionate about ensuring the effectiveness of NPPA as a regulator and principal adviser to the Government of Sierra on all procurement activities.

Our next activities will be knowing the various MDAs that work closely with the NPPA, how the help relate to the growth and development of Sierra Leone.

WHAT IS PUBLIC PROCUREMENT?
Public procurement refers to the process by which public authorities, such as government departments or local authorities, purchase work, goods and services from businesses.


Going further, we do asked ourselves
WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT?
The goal of public procurement is the award of timely and cost-effective contracts to qualified contractors, suppliers and service providers for the provision of goods, works and services to support government and public service operations, in accordance with the principles and procedures established in the public procurement regulations.

let's closely look at;
ENSURING GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY THROUGH INTEGRITY
Public procurement is one of the government activities highlight vulnerable to corruption.
The financial interests at stake, the volume of transactions and close interaction between public and private sectors in the award of public contract all poses risks to integrity.
As practitioners, we must ensure accountability and integrity should be treated with all seriousness, to avoid wastage and provide best returns of taxpayers money.

Unethical practices can occur in all phases of the public procurement cycle (pre-tendering, tendering and post-award phases). However, each phase may be prone to specific kinds of integrity risks.
We must stand tall to observe the 12 principles of public procurement, thus:
Transparency
Integrity
Economy
Openness
Fairness
Competition and
Accountability etc..

Effective public procurement system can help government see better value for money, reduce pressure on public budgets, and leave MDA's better prepared to invite private investments.

Thank you all!!!

Procurement is a process not an event. As young graduates, we have all what it takes to resuscitate Procurement in Sierra Leone.

We have a task in hand to bring more innovative ideas on the table. Sustainable procurement practices generally leads to sustainable development and that's why we are here!