As President Julius Maada Bio pledged during his election campaign to curtail the endemic corrupt practices in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) under the current leadership of Ibrahim Brima Swarayhas set the platform to block leakages on public procurement in Sierra Leone.

In light of this, the institution on Thursday 12th July 2018 launched the price norm estimate of the national average prices for common user items held at Ministry of Finance, Conference Room, George Street Freetown.

Speaking at the launching, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) NPPA, Ibrahim Brima Swaray said, the price norm is a guide to the market prices of commonly used items by MDAs and councils, which is statutory requirement in the life cycle of the Authority. He warned that he would not approve any bidding document that comes under emergency and also with exemption or tax waivers.

According to him, the biggest leakages in government resources are on duty free for suppliers on procurement and therefore procurement officers have the responsibility now to reduce the leakages as public procurement takes the highest share of government spending.

He said the essence of procurement is to reduce cost and being one of their mandates. “There would be nowhere to hide in the procurement process because some are in the habit to change specification in the middle of the bidding process.

“We are all aware of the stark reality that public procurement takes the highest share of government spending. So any move in the direction of achieving the value for money, transparency, competitiveness and uniformity in the way goods are purchased; which are all key deliverables in His Excellency the president’s vision to place this country on a sound and robust fiscal footing, will be welcomed by all stakeholders concerned,” the CEO averred.He expressed hope that all MDAs and councils would make use of the information contained in the document to guide them through as the primary targets are procurement officers and procurement committee members.

He further noted that NPPA is not oblivious of the fact that a small component of the prices might be at significant variance in comparison to common market prices.

Government Financial Secretary, SahrLahai Jusu said that there would be no approval by government for payment on any procurement undertaken in limited tender or sole source except in the case of emergency like disaster.

He further highlighted series of illegible procurement done by few at the detriment of the poor tax payers in the country.
Comments, clarifications, suggestions, questions and answers session climaxed the launching of the price norm.