A three-day capacity-building training in public procurement organised by the Gambia Public Procurement Authority is currently underway at the Dunes Resort Hotel in Kololi.

The training would, among others, cover areas like the essential elements of the GPPA Act and regulations, threshold and methods of procurement, record keeping in public procurement management, public procurement processing and approval procedures, principles of public procurement and ethics in procurement.

The training, which targets procurement officers brought together participants from different institutions and organisations, aimed at strengthening the authority’s efforts towards reforming public procurement through the creation of more efficient and accountable public procurement system, that’s in conformity with the GPPA Act 2001 and Regulation of 2003.

Addressing participants at the opening of the training, Mr. Gibril Jibi Chorr, the Vice Chairman, Board of Directors GPPA, said the GPPA Act has five basic objectives, which include transparency, efficient and economic public procurement; accountability in public procurement; a fair opportunity to all prospective suppliers of goods and constancy services, and the presentation of fraud and other malpractices in public procurement.

He stated that one of the functions of the authority as per the GPPA Act 2001 (13) is to promote the development of a professional procurement workforce by organising and conducting training programmes and developing government policies and programmes, aimed at establishing procurement related position, career paths and performance incentives.

The training, he added, “is of many capacity-building initiatives undertaken with the objectives of addressing public procurement reforms, address some key challenges faced by procuring organisation as it relates to the GPPA Act and regulation and carve a way forward.”

For his part, the Director General of GPPA, Dr. Amadou Kebbeh underscored the importance of the capacity-building programme, adding that it is always vital to build the capacities of staff so as to help them become more effective and efficient in public procurement.

He reminded the participants that GPPA serves as a regulator on how public monies are being spent when it comes to procurement, stressing that this was part of the GPPA capacity-building strategic plan.

The Gambia Public Procurement Authority was set up by an Act of Parliament in 2001 as an autonomous agency responsible for regulating and monitoring public procurement in The Gambia.