By Sailu Bah Stakeholders drawn from government institutions and others on Wednesday converged at the Sheraton hotel for a 3 day validation of a draft of the Gambia Public Procurement Regulation 2015. According to organisers, stakeholders will add their inputs and carve the way forward for effective recommendation in the best interest of the Gambian population. This event started on Wednesday 15, April and will conclude on Friday, 17 April 2015. Mr Modou K. Ceesay permanent secretary 2 ministry of finance and economic affairs (MOFEA), said the main objective of the workshop is to identify the major changes in the GPPA Act as well as the regulation so that the public procurement system will address the changes. According to Mr Ceesay, “The amendment was done to incorporate the separation of policy and regulatory functions of the GPPA, create an Independent Complaints Review Board and strengthen the sanction and fines in the Bill. This is done to ensure that the legislative and administrative changes would make public procurement simpler, transparent and accountable with checks and balances consistent with law and best practices; as well as strengthening the public procurement institutions and that the procurement system is effective and efficient and delivers values for money.” He thanked the EU for their continued support in the area of public procurement in the Gambia and expressed his appreciation for that. He reminded participants of the importance of public procurement in the Gambia. Mr. Tumbul K Danso Director of GPPA, said this workshop is called upon for the fact that the Act has been revised and participants are required to look at the regulations and bring it in line with the revised Act. The final document will be printed out and shared to all government institutions for a guide on their procurement operations. He expects that at the end of the validation programme they will come up with a programme that will meet international standards and international best practices on procurement issues. He emphasised that GPPA is here to ensure that procurement is done transparently, as well as value for money. “70 percent of government budget is going to procurement budget; therefore it is very important to have the GPPA,” he said.]]>
