Public Procurement, Monitoring and Evaluation Adviser

Background

Prior to the establishment of the Public Procurement Act of 2004 in Sierra Leone, procurement was centralized in MOFDEP and considered an administrative function. There was no legislation to guide procurement activities, nor regulatory instruments to guide practice. What was relied upon to carry out procurement functions in government ministries, departments and agencies were the obsolete Financial Orders of 1963, which established Tender Boards to work on routine procedures for procuring goods, works and services. Consequently, the Government of Sierra Leone sought and received the assistance of the Inter-Agency Procurement Services Office of the UNDP (IAPSO) in 2002; set up a procurement reform steering committee in 2003; established the reform secretariat in 2003 at the same time as it dismantled the Central Tender Board of MOFDEP.

These steps decentralized public procurement functions completely, in line with the Government's policy of decentralizing Local Government. This placed it in the hands of procuring entities, namely ministries, departments and government supported agencies (MDAs) as well as local councils.

Rationale

A detailed compliance and performance monitoring audit carried out for nine key Ministries in relation to their 2007 procurement plans identified a range of issues which affected the efficiency of procurement within ministries. Some of the issues identified were: Low compliance with approved procurement plans; Procurement activities were not under the control of Procurement Units in the entities; Most of the procurement activities carried out in the entities were inconsistent with the requirements of the Public Procurement Act 2004 and its Regulations; Procurement activities were still undertaken by accountants; there was poor record keeping and reporting of procurement activities in the entities; Some Procurement Committees were found to be ineffective. The contents of procurement plans in the ministries were frequently altered without reference to the NPPA; The NPPA approved procurement documents were not treated seriously by some senior officials in those entities; Strong assets disposal mechanism was found to be lacking in the MDAs; Collaboration among entities, the NPPA and Ministry of Finance was found to be low.

Given the above challenges, the Government of Sierra Leone sought Technical Assistance (TA) from the Commonwealth Secretariat to monitor progress being made in this aspect of economic reform.

Purpose of the project

To build the capacity of the NPPA to effectively monitor compliance with public procurement standards across key line ministries in Sierra Leone.

Scope of Work

During the implementation period it is expected that the Adviser will undertake the following activities, inter alia

· Review existing Public Procurement Monitoring and Evaluation tools tailored on the OECD-DAC Joint Venture Tools and international best practice

· Design work plan and pilot of the new procurement monitoring & evaluation tools

· Review NPPA staff capacity/ training needs

· Review staff capacity and training needs of key MDAs and procuring entities

· Design and implement training programmes and manuals for training staff of the NPPA and key MDAs

· Review communication and protocol set up between NPPA and key line ministries

· Support NPPA to engage and sensitize stakeholders on Procurement Monitoring and Evaluation initiatives

· Provide technical advice on framework for new public procurement initiatives such as e-procurement and assets management and disposal for the consideration of the NPPA

Project Phase Outputs (Deliverables)

· New public procurement monitoring & evaluation tools developed and in use

· NPPA staff trained to use the new monitoring & evaluation tools

· Staff in other key ministries trained in compliance procedures and use of the new monitoring tools

· Inter-ministerial communication and protocol for collaboration set up

· Frameworks for public procurement initiatives developed

Transfer of Expertise

The Commonwealth Secretariat attaches great importance to the transfer of expertise and knowledge to counterparts.

The expert in his/her discussions with the Reporting Officer should draw attention to the need for a counterpart officer to be assigned at the beginning of the assignment and report on this in the inception report.

The expert in consultation with the reporting officer would therefore draw up a training programme for the counterpart as early as possible in order to ensure that expertise transferred is understood and mainstreamed during the course of the experts posting. This should be included in the progress report to be submitted on completion of the inception phase (i.e. after the first 6 months).

Implementation Arrangements

The expert will be based in the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) in the Office of the Vice-President for a period of one year and will be responsible to the Executive Director.

The expert will work closely with Commonwealth Secretariat Advisers in delivering this technical assistance. Copies of all reports will also be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretariat project manager.

Required Experience and Qualifications

· Post Graduate Degree in Economics, Procurement Management, Business Administration and Finance, engineering or other relevant discipline;

· Extensive experience in the implementation of public procurement laws; implementation of benchmarking, monitoring and evaluation tools in developing countries, particularly in West Africa;

· Project Management skills on international donor-financed projects for at least 3 years;

· Experience in the development of instruments, data collection and analysis;

· At least 15 years experience in management of International Procurement;

· Experience in planning and coordinating training programs in related areas would be desirable;

· Experience in preparing proposals, negotiating and working with international donors and partners;

· Experience of working with local government institutions in developing countries is required;

· Strong presentation, facilitation and report writing skills;

Familiarity with current decentralisation of procurement functions across Commonwealth developing nations is an added advantage.

Contact for Applications: Mrs. Puja D Sharma, (p.sharma@commonwealth.int), Phone: +44-207-747-6531

Note: This invitation is open to independent experts who are nationals of Commonwealth member countries.