By Olimatou Coker
The Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) recently gathered stakeholders to discuss and validate the newly-developed electronic government public roadmap and strategy at a workshop held at the conference centre.
A significant chunk of government expenditure goes into procurement and and due to the way it has been conducted so far, there are frequent allegations of massive corruption and financial mismanagement.
Phoday Jaiteh, the director general of the Gambia Public Procurement Authority, said the findings and recommendations from this assessment are intended to guide and support the procurement reform activities in The Gambia. Some of the identified weaknesses in the procurement system include non compliance with the public procurement framework, and inadequate transparency due to limited public disclosure over the wide range of procurement practices.
“At the helm of this initiative is a visionary president, Adama Barrow, whose unwavering commitment to innovation has propelled us towards this day. It initiated this transformation with a request to the World Bank to ensure that there is a more efficient and transparent future in the fast evolving landscape of public procurement, the significance of the e-procurement system cannot be overemphasized. It stands as the cornerstone of our commitment to excellence,” he said.
Lamin Camara, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, said the system is expected to reduce administrative costs and stimulate efficiency in operations.
“We believe that creating integrated ICTs would improve fair competition but also lessen human influence when it comes to decision making, the likes of favoritism or the ills that defeat the integrity of the whole process.”
Juldeh Ceesay, the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said a strong public procurement system is central to a well functioning public finance management system and good public sector governance. “Public procurement as well plays a pivotal role in the epicenter of government and public entities.”
GPPA is an agency of the government responsible for the regulation and monitoring of public procurement in the Gambia. Currently, there are about 203 procurement organizations, including project coordination units, SOEs and subsidized agencies that have authority to conduct public procurement.
