The National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) has launched the 3rd Quarter 2022 Public Procurement Price Norm on Tuesday 19th July 2022, at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Tower Hill, Freetown.

The Price Norm is a control mechanism drawn from a holistic market survey of commonly used items but does not seek to control the prices in the market.
Its overall objective is to bring uniformity in prices across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies in undertaking their procurement and to ensure value for money.

The representative of the Board of Authority, Mr Daniel Moijueh in a statement welcomed the procurement professionals, the Civil Society and the media to the event. He stressed that the Price Norm should not only guide the procurement practitioner but that it use is mandatory.
He stated that procurement should be taken seriously; adding that the procurement practitioners should not only be consulted for advice when there is a problem but should be part of management to provide technical advice to vault controllers. He intimated that the Price Norm is a procurement Bible because it provides legal requirements that enhance fairness and transparency, and maintain value for money.
He concluded by encouraging procurement practitioners to use the Price Norm effectively and to market the product to the general public. He enticed the audience of the NPPA and Ministry of Finance plan in automating the exercise.
“Very soon the electronics government procurement system(e-GP) will change the country’s procurement system from a paper-based to electronic”, he noted.

The Director of the Procurement Directorate at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Fodie Konneh, emphasized the relevance of the Price Norm in guiding procurement practitioners in their day-to-day activities and confirmed that they have been using the Price Norm correctly.
He appreciated the efforts of the Authority in transforming the public procurement landscape and disclosed that the leadership of the Chief Executive has created an indelible mark on public procurement that even his critics are in awe of the positive strides they see, adding that with the transformation of public procurement, procurement practitioners are now being considered when a critical decision is made. He stated that the Price Norm answers audit queries raised regarding public procurement. He concluded by calling on the procurement practitioners to be robust in their services. He said that the Price Norm has a unique feature of the denomination of the Leone and advised them to treat the ongoing Annual Procurement Assessment with its automated seriousness.

In his Keynote Address, the Chief Executive of NPPA, Ibrahim Brima Swarray said the 3rd Quarter 2022 Price Norm is critical in that it is not only used in guiding price formula but guides procuring entities in budget preparation for the 2022 fiscal year.
He stressed the low compliance of MDAs towards the Annual Procurement Assessment in which he expressed his bitter dissatisfaction. He said that the production of the Annual Procurement Assessment Report is mandatory and called on procuring entities to make good compliance with it.
The Chief Executive informed the audience about the danger of the late publication of the Public Procurement Annual Assessment Report to donor partners. ” With all the transformation at the regulatory arm, the Authority still stood at grade”C” which I consider a failure on our part”, he explained.
He called on all to holistically work together in improving the situation going forward.
He concluded by saying that the decision of procurement practitioners can go a long way to influence the development drive of the nation.

The occasion was chaired by the Deputy Director of Administration and Human Resource, Mr Sylvester Allieu.

In attendance were procurement practitioners from various Ministries, Departments, Agencies, staff of the NPPA, the media and other relevant stakeholders.