By Tabora Bojang
At least nine public institutions will be exempted from seeking approval from the Gambia Public Procurement Authority to procure goods and services, the Authority confirmed in a media invitation info.
The institutions expected to benefit from this autonomy are Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, Office of the Ombudsman, Ministry of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Central Bank of the Gambia, Independent Electoral Commission and Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute.
With this delegated responsibility, the said institutions will be authorised to henceforth conduct their procurement activities on their own with approvals for procurement activities to be granted by heads of the said public institutions.
The GPPA said it will hold a formal ceremony at the National Assembly grounds tomorrow Friday where the said institutions will be granted a formal authorisation.
The Standard contacted a member of the National Assembly Finance and Public Accounts Committee to understand if the Assembly had passed any new Act to support this move. He said the move has to do with “certain provisions” contained in the Gambia Public Procurement Act 2022.
“These authorisations have been going on since last year,” the lawmaker added.
