National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) does not have a working vehicle, says Allin Badara Sheriff NPPA. Acting Director, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Sheriff said this during a one-day training of journalists and civil society activists on Public Procurement organized by NPPA.

“The training was organized to capacitate journalists and CSOs to help the Authority in monitoring the expenditure of public funds.

NPPA regulates and monitors public procurement in Sierra Leone, but the procurement Authority is challenged by a lack of official vehicles and corporations from MDAS.

Despite the challenges, Ibrahim Brima Swarray, NPPA Chief Executive said their proactive Measures in monitoring and evaluating MDAs have prevented the appropriation of about 1.6 trillion Leones.

“There is no way Sierra will move if there is no concerted effort in the fight against corruption”, he staked acknowledging the role media has to play in fighting corruption in the country.

“With effective monitoring of public procurement, the work of the Audit Service Sierra Leone and the Anti-Corruption Commission will be minimized, which will in turn attract foreign investment and portray an excellent image of the country”, he said.

NPPA has seen several reforms since Swarray took over as Chief Executive in 2018, That includes an improvement in the number of NPPA staff from 37 to 115 presently, with regional offices established in BO, Kenema, and Makeni respectively.