Maimuna Sey-Jawo
The Gambia public procurement Authority and SMD Policy Management Associates Wednesday sign a memorandum of Understanding.
Sanna M Darboe the Managing Director of SMD said the expected outcome of the MOU is to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in government through a well trained, skilled and organised public procurement cadre.
He said the MOU will help to strengthen the GPPA, by designing a recognised professional certification programme, that will benefit all tiers of Government, and it will also facilitate the setting up of a community of practice to raise awareness in public procurement and serve as a pressure group that will add value to the reform agenda and the professionalisation of the trade in general.
The SMD director described the initiative as critical and timely, noting it comes at a time when the Government of the Gambia has secured pledges of up to 1.45 billion euro, to finance flagship projects identified in the four-year development blueprint.
“Therefore, to translate these pledges into results, public procurement, which is on the critical path (meaning no disbursements without procurement), needs to be professionalised,” he stated.
For his part the Director General of GPPA Tumbul Danso, said the MoU is timely and very important, saying that GPPA regulate all public procurement in the country, and that the GPPA act was amended in 2014 whicht gives more impact to the procurement system.
He thanked the SMD policy management for the partnership, adding that it will be a plus to both managements and assured them of GPPA’s full support in working together.
For his part, the Board Chairman of GPPA, Ebrima Dundee, welcomed the endeavor and described the MoU as a step in the right direction, adding that 60% of government revenue is being paid by procurement.
