Kabul (BNA) The first meeting of the new Afghan fiscal year of National Procurement Commission (NPC) chaired by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani was held at the Presidential Palace, the other day.
In this meeting, 73 procurement cases including the concept for expediting procurement of supplies to Afghan National Army and Police were reviewed.
The cases incorporated contract awards, amendments and extensions, memos, requests for instruction, realization of previous decisions of the NPC and a contract termination case.
At the beginning of the meeting, National Security Council presented a concept for expediting procurement of supplies to ANA and ANP which was comprehensively discussed and the following decisions were taken on:
– A specific unit to be created within National Procurement Authority to exclusively facilitate procurement of supplies to ANA and ANP
– Nation Security Council is delegated authority to monitor the procurement proceedings of MoD and MoI requirements to ensure timeliness and efficiency
– In case of urgency, NSC can request for conduct of special meetings of the NPC to review and approve MoD and MoI contracts
– For a pilot phase of at least 3 months/one fiscal quarter, a need proportionate thresholds authority to be delegated to corps and chief of police level for supplies of food and maintenance of facilities.
For ensuring accountability and transparency, online information disclosure measures of expenses to be undertaken at the central level (by Acquisition Deputy Minister’s Offices of MoD and MoI).
After the pilot phase and in case of successful results, extension of threshold authority and its further application to extended levels to be proposed to NPC – For the long term, extensive work must be undertaken on implementing concept of reviving food and maintenance enterprises as two priorities. H.E the president while accentuating on implementation of the above decisions stated that in the currently delicate security situation in the country, the valor and sacrifices of our national security forces are invaluable; thus far, NSC, NPA, MoF, MoD and MoI must put forth extensive and close cooperative efforts to ensure any challenges faced with supplies to the security forces are fundamentally resolved and addressed.
Afterwards, the NPC reviewed the 73 procurement cases on the agenda related to various procurement entities such as Operation and Support Authority for National Development, MoD, MoIA, NWARA, DABS, MoF, MUDL, MoCIT, MoLASA, Prisons Affairs Authority and MPW. NPC decided upon 26 award cases related to different entities and 34 amendment and extension cases were also reviewed and relevant decisions were made on them. Extension cases proposed by MPW and DABS; however, were returned for further assessment in an exclusive NPC meeting. The NPC also issued instructions on 4 requests for instruction, 3 memos, 5 previous decisions of the NPC and 1 contract termination case. In this session of the NPC besides its permanent members, National Security Advisor, NPA officials and national and international observers had also participated.
M.A.Ansari
