TOR for Development of Procurement Manual including Procurement Audit and Monitoring Provisions for the Provincial and Local Governments

USAID Public Financial Management (PFM)

Terms of Reference for Short-Term Technical Consultant

1. Background

Deloitte Consulting and WSP, together with Georgia State University and the Niti Foundation are implementing a five-year USAID funded Public Financial Management Program (USAID PFM) whose purpose is to provide technical assistance and strengthen Public Financial Management (PFM) functions, performance, and accountability of targeted agencies at the federal, provincial, and local levels of government, and to provide targeted assistance to the Government of Nepal (GON) aimed at strengthening national PFM institutions and systems to sustainably advance PFM.

The project commenced in October 2022 and will run for a five-year period to October 2027. The major stakeholders of the project are selected Federal Agencies including Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA), Financial Comptroller General’s Office (FCGO), PEFA Secretariat, National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission (NNRFC), National Planning Commission (NPC), Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Minsters (OPMCM), Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO), Provincial Governments of Madhesh and Lumbini Province, and Local Governments located in these two provinces.

The objectives of the Project are to provide technical assistance and strengthen PFM functions, performance, and transparency and accountability of targeted agencies at the federal, provincial, and local levels of government, and to provide targeted assistance to the GON aimed at strengthening national PFM institutions and systems to sustainably advance PFM. The Project’s two objectives and key activities are:

In general, the expected outcomes of the Project are to enhance transparency and accountability by accomplishing the following results:

• Selected PFM related laws or policies or regulations or standards or norms or guidelines or tools or manuals developed.
• Selected local governments have increased their own resource revenue.
• Elected and Government officials trained on public financial management system.
• Selected PFM institutions, governments and agencies adopted improved public financial management system.
• Selected local governments have improved gender-responsive budgeting. 
• Coordination mechanisms for coordination are established.
• Standardized training modules in the PFM disciplines are developed.

2. Title/Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to engage a short-term consultant to work with the concerned Government of Nepal (GON) Counterparts and the USAID PFM to develop a Procurement Manual including Procurement Audit and Monitoring Provisions for the Provincial and Local Governments that describe public procurement related procedures, processes, and functions in a methodical and explanatory manner with an aim to strengthen and improve procurement functions of the PGs and LGs leading to more open and fair, transparent, competitive procurement.  The manual should be based on federal Public Procurement Act and other procurement related documents, and related best practices of public procurement systems and functions.

(Please note that the ToR are subject to change slightly in line with Government Counterpart’s requirements which will be informed to the applicants prior to selection)

3. Rationale

Government of Nepal (GoN) has enacted the Public Procurement Act (2007) and regulations 2007 for the establishment of open, competitive and transparent public procurement system in Nepal. Since the promulgation of the procurement law, the government has been adopting the public procurement system as defined by the said law. The Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO)’s role is to facilitate the procurement process of the public entities. PPMO has issued technical guidelines and directives, standard bidding documents and standard request for proposal as well as e-GP procedures etc. Similarly, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) through the Provincial and Local Government Support Program (PLGSP) has issued various guidelines on the public financial management to be used by the Local Governments. The recent annual report 2080 (2023) of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) (in 2079 Chaitra) revealed that procurement related problems persist in the public entities including the PGs and LGs. Some of them may be intentional but most are due to the lack of understanding of the legal provisions and proper application of procedural management which is not entirely clear to the officials working in the field of procurement. The OAG report also reveals that there is a need to reform the areas of requirement analysis, procurement plan, qualification criteria, specification preparation, cost estimation. There are also problems with packaging and using less competitive procurement methods. Similarly, there is lack of proper training for enhancing capacity development in the field of public procurement. This manual is in addition to the procurement laws and will supplement the legal provisions to enhance the procurement process management and related capacity of the SNG officials.

In this context, as per the requirement of PGs and LGs in the Year 1 counterparts in the co-creation workshop sought the assistance of USAID Public Financial Management (PFM) to support in the areas of PFM strengthening including the support for the preparation of procurement manual/ guidelines for them. In this regard, USAID PFM is providing the technical assistance to all three tiers of government and specifically for Madhesh and Lumbini Province and their Local Governments. Pursuant to their requirements this assignment is primarily to prepare the procurement manual/guideline for PGs and LGs. This guideline intends to help PGs and LGs in understanding the procurement process requirements and enhance their capacity to undertake procurement proceedings with more confidence and trust.

4. Methodology

The methodology to be undertaken for this assignment shall be as follows:

• Consultation meetings with concerned officials of the PPMO, Office of the Auditor General (OAG), MOFAGA, FCGO, selected District Treasury Comptroller Offices (DTCOs), Provincial Ministries of Finance, Provincial Treasury Comptroller Offices (PTCOs), selected provincial entities, selected LGs, Provincial and Local Government PFM Coordination Committees (PLGPFMCCs), Inter-Local Government PFM Coordination Committees (ILGPFMCCs) and others.
• Collection of relevant data, information, and views from concerned agencies through primary sources such as questionnaires, interviews and secondary sources i.e., published documents through appropriate sources. The consultant should prepare the minutes of meetings / interview and include the photographs of consultation meetings.
• Triangulate the collected data, information, views, feedback with the consultation meetings and published materials collected from the concerned sources as well as validation workshops with concerned officials or representatives of federal, provincial and local governments, professional institutions, and development partners.

5. Tasks

This work assignment is to develop a procurement manual including procurement audit and monitoring provisions for the PGs and LGs. The Consultant shall carry out the following tasks to achieve the objective: 

• Review and understand the financial and executive rights and duties of the PGs and LGs related to budget/program executions and procurement functions.
• Review the Constitution of Nepal, provincial and local financial procedure and fiscal responsibility laws, federal public procurement laws, local government Operation Act, Intergovernmental Financial Management Act, standard bidding documents, directives, technical notes, and other relevant documents of PPMO, publications of Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration and other public entities related to procurement, the office of auditor general yearly report/s, public accounts committee reports, procurement related journals, documents, guidelines/manuals etc.
• Identify and determine the entire procurement functions of a Procurement Cycle in the methodical, explanatory, and stepwise approaches. The manual should cover the following procurement functions, but not limited to civil works, goods, consulting services and other services. The content of the manual should mainly include the major provisions for making the procurement process more efficient and effective with reasonable clear and definite process as well as the respective responsibilities of the concerned officials in the procurement process based the existing legal frameworks, procurement systems of donor communities, and other international best practices. The manual should also cover the sequential flow of the procurement process of each of the procurement functions (i.e., goods, works, consulting and other services). Similarly, it should include technical explanations for carrying out the procurement functions including all the preparatory works of each procurements covering requirement analysis, market survey, records update, technical specification, packaging, cost estimation, procurement methods, procurement plan, preparation of standard bidding documents, evaluation of bids/proposals, drafting of evaluation reports, preparation of contract documents. The contents should also include the procurement proceedings for direct, quotation and bidding process including the flow of e-bidding procedures. The manual should include examples and precautionary measures that should be considered during each of the preparatory proceedings and procurement process. In addition, the manual should also highlight the major issues and related measures to address the contract agreement issues/ problems and include provisions regarding procurement monitoring and audit.
• Conduct consultative meetings and discussions with the officials of PPMO and other concerned government entities, Provincial and Local Government PFM Coordination Committees, Inter-Local Government PFM Coordination Committees, USAID PFM, and professional entities.
• Prepare and submit the draft procurement manual for comments and suggestions of PPMO and other concerned Government Counterparts and USAID PFM Project.
• Manage and conduct workshop in order to validate, qualify, and finalize the developed Manual and the workshop will be conducted in the directorship of PPMO; and
• Develop and submit the concluding Procurement Manual in the form of a Final Report incorporating the comments/feedback from PPMO and the concerned Government Counterparts and USAID PFM Project and/or as stated in the deliverables.

6. Deliverables

The Consultant shall submit the following deliverables:

• An Inception Report with detailed work plan and methodology in English language within 10 days of signing the agreement.
• The First Draft Report in Nepali within 60 days after signing of the agreement.
• Conduct Validation workshops/meetings within 10 days of the submission of the First Draft Report, utilizing presentations and/or other methods to facilitate discussion. Nepali materials shall be used to facilitate clear discussions.
• The Final Report in Nepali within 90 days of the signing of the agreement incorporating the comments/suggestions received from the workshops/meetings.
• Summary Consultant's Work Completion Report describing actions taken to fulfill the above deliverables and provide observations/recommendations for any additional next steps in the process of rolling out of the Guidelines/manuals in English.

All deliverables shall be submitted in editable Microsoft documents, in electronic format. The final report shall also be provided in at least two hard copies and PDF format.

7. Period of Performance:

The duration of this assignment will be 120 days.  Level of effort will be 90 days. The anticipated start date will be on or about August 14, 2023.

8. Technical Directions/Supervision:

• The Consultant will work under the direction and supervision of the Objective 1 Lead (Lead PFM Expert).
• The Project COP and DCOP will also monitor the Consultant’s work as and when required.
• The Consultant shall carry out her/his tasks in close collaboration and coordination with PPMO, other concerned Government Counterparts and the Project team.

All deliverables required hereunder will be reviewed and approved by the COP/DCOP and Objective 1 Lead (Lead PFM Expert). Final report shall also be approved by the PPMO for the purpose of full adoption of the Manual.

9. Required Qualifications and Experience of the Consultant:

The Consultant should at a minimum have the following qualifications:

• Masters’ Degree in Business Administration or Management or Engineering or Law.
• A minimum of 10 years’ professional experience in the public procurement management preferably in government sector procurement.
• Knowledge of procurement procedure of donor supported project would be an asset or worked as trainer in the public procurement.
• Public Procurement related training for 5 days or more.
• Good communication skills (oral and written) in Nepali and English languages.
• Good report writing skills.
• Have completed at-least two project study/assessment experiences in PFM field.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.); and
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and exhibit good inter-personal skills.

10. Facilities/Utilities and Logistics to be provided:

The Consultant shall be expected to spend time at the selected government entities, Project Office and from home.  As deemed necessary, the Project will provide working space, internet connection, printing and photocopy facilities as required to complete the assignment. The consultant must provide her/his own computer, including Microsoft Office software to produce compatible documents for review.

All the required field visits, consultative meetings and workshops shall be arranged in coordination with the concerned Government, whereas logistics and allowances shall be managed by the Project.

11. Contractual Amount and Payment Terms:

This will be a fixed price assignment awarded in Nepali Rupees. Payments shall be made in Nepali Rupees in the following manner.

• 25 percent payment upon submission and acceptance of the inception report, including a detailed work plan for the assignment; (Deliverable 1)
• 40 percent payment upon submission of first draft Manual which is ready to be presented at validation workshop; (Deliverable 2), and
• 35 percent payment after completion of the validation workshop, submission and acceptance of final report (Procurement Manual for PGs and LGs) by the project and PPMO and the Consultants’ Work Completion Report (Deliverables 3, 4 and 5).

Travel costs, including the number of trips and length of trips should be estimated. Travel will be arranged and approved in advance by the Project, and actual costs will be reimbursed based on the Project’s standard practices and rates for hotel, per diem, and other billable costs (e.g., meeting costs), in accordance with US Government policy.

Workshop costs shall be borne directly by the Project. Necessary arrangements for workshop costs (To Be Decided/Determined) if necessary, will be arranged by the project.

12. Application Instructions:

Only individual consultants will be considered for this opportunity. 

Interested and qualified individuals should email the following documents to recruitment@pfm-nepal.com with subject line “Development of Procurement Manual, Procurement Audit and Monitoring Provisions for the Provincial and Local Governments.”

(a) Cover letter

(b) Recent CV 

(c) Dates of availability 

(d) Contact information of three professional reference

(e) Daily rate.  A biodata form may be asked of the successful candidate in order to verify the daily rate, and

(f) VAT Registration certificate

Application deadline: August 9, 2023

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The organization reserves the right to reject any/all applications without assigning any reason.