Transparency in Sierra Leone's public procurement

With Sierra Leone's emergence from civil war came the need to rebuild its public institutions and restore trust in the country's administration.

Reforming public procurement was a priority. Hindered by an outmoded legal framework and lacking clear, codified procedures, it was considered by many to be inefficient and corrupt.

The government set up a Procurement Reform Steering Committee to oversee reform and, with our help, draw up a new national policy. Working to that policy, we drafted new public procurement legislation and matching administrative regulations, a procurement manual and a full set of standard bidding documents. Together these would bring transparency and consistency to the procurement processes.

The resulting Public Procurement Act 2004 is a milestone in the government's drive for sound financial management and, in consequence, poverty reduction.

Completing this first step in the procurement reform process also marked the beginning of the capacity building phase. We are now working with the government's new Public Procurement Authority on workshop programmes to sell the reforms to public procurement practitioners.