– to Speaker of the National Assembly
– Chairman reflects on challenges during a three-year hiatus without a complete Commission

STANDING firm to its duty of ensuring transparency and fairness prevails; the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) handed over its Annual Report for the year 2022-2023 to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, on Tuesday.
As mentioned in the press release disseminated by the PPC, the event celebrated a momentous milestone as it signifies the inaugural annual report of the second fully constituted PPC. Notably, this report assumes unprecedented importance, as it is the first of its kind to be laid before the National Assembly, in compliance with the constitutional requirement stipulated in Article 212CC.

Chairman of the PPC, Pauline Chase, who was accompanied by Deputy Chairman of the commission, Berkley Wickham, stated: “We are delighted to present this report as we are mandated to do by Article 212CC of the constitution. The Report was actually completed since the end of last year but due to formatting and printing difficulties, its delivery was delayed. We are dedicated to presenting our next Annual Report before the end of this year, covering our second year of operation, which concludes next week on July 8th.” The current PPC took office on July 8, 2022, following a three-year hiatus without a fully constituted commission.

“Upon assuming office, we encountered the challenge of re-establishing the commission and recruiting staff due to the expiration of previous contracts. However, we swiftly overcame these obstacles and commenced our mandated duties,” Chase explained.
The PPC operates under 13 constitutional functions outlined in Article 212AA (1) with key responsibilities including monitoring, investigations, training, and legislative review.
Chase then stated: “While investigations often garner the most attention, it is important to recognize our comprehensive role. Despite initial setbacks, we are pleased to report that we were nonetheless able to have diligently executed work across all of our main functional categories during our first year, expanding on the work of the past commission and embarking on new areas.” She also noted: “We are proud of our accomplishments over the past year and are committed to further enhancing our operations in our remaining period.”
Pursuant to Article 212Y, Commissioners are appointed for a period of three years and are not eligible for consecutive reappointment.

The release further read that Nadir applauded the Chairman and the commission for delivering this inaugural report to the National Assembly.
He highlighted the importance of the legislative framework, which ensures institutions like the PPC can perform essential oversight functions and independently establish policies.
It was said that Nadir was accompanied by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Issacs; the Deputy Clerk, Herminia Gilgeous, along with other staff members.
According to the release, the Speaker of the National Assembly said: “Importantly, we have the legislative infrastructure to ensure that we have institutions to perform oversight and to independently establish the policies of commissions like this.”
“While there may have been a hiatus between the appointment and the end of the last commission and this one, the process is a slow one because it starts in the National Assembly. It has to follow meticulous details in the Constitution with respect to appointing members of this commission,” Speaker Nadir explained.

Emphasising the need for consensus, the Speaker noted that achieving broad agreement among the nation’s representatives is a time-consuming but necessary endeavor.
“It is painstakingly long, but in the end, the objective is a consensus commission that has the support of all the parties in the Assembly. So while people may say it’s long and there is a need for reform -that may be so. But if you want to get consensus, then consensus is always built around the least common denominator. That’s where you get consensus. And so it takes a long time,” he said.

Reflecting on his lengthy tenure in Parliament, Speaker Nadir expressed satisfaction with the progress made and said he is very pleased to have seen the report.
He also highlighted a significant change in the process of handling such reports, noting that they are now presented to the National Assembly rather than to ministers. This, the Speaker noted cuts down on delays in having the Reports tabled.
“Now these reports come to the parliament, not the ministers and ministers, when reports go to them, those reports could be delayed, for one reason or the other. But here, we have reports coming to the Parliament. And it’s my duty to, as soon as we receive these reports, to have them tabled,” he said.

The report is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly on July 8, 2024.
Speaker Nadir said: “Congratulations to the Chairman and the Commission for presenting the first-ever report of the Public Procurement Commission.”
After the Annual Report is tabled, an Executive Summary thereof will be published in accordance with Article 212CC (4) of the constitution.