A month ago, I took over as the Team Lead at the Project Fiduciary Management Unit (PFMU) in the Ministry of Finance. What we have in place is a professional workforce, many of whom are experts in disciplines such as procurement, logistics, accounting, and finance. Many have been with the unit and its predecessor for more than a decade. The current portfolio of projects under fiduciary management at PFMU amounts to about $350 million, with over 100 consultants, suppliers, and contractors engaged across the country to deliver.
We have spent the last four weeks developing an understanding of the governance framework in place. We’ve had introductory meetings with staff of the unit, personnel at project implementation outfits, the leadership of the ministry of finance, and a few donor representatives. In these engagements, I have learned about what they do, the impact they create in project management cycle, and the challenges inherent in their work. We’ve also made inquiries into and observed performance of key business processes underlying the project management function, including those specific fiduciary activities. We’ve visited some of the capital project construction sites, where we met with consultants, contractors, and project beneficiaries.
In all these engagements, we’ve discussed what seems to be working well, identified the challenges they face, and looked out for opportunities that exist for us to improve the environment and accelerate delivery. A key commitment in the Presidential delivery agenda is a drive to utilize donor funds timely and in ways that create value, empower citizens, improve wellbeing, and safeguard the environment. We are convinced that together, #WeWillDeliver on these bold commitments. To achieve this reform agenda, we will equip our workforce, improve key business processes, and leverage appropriate technologies. We will capitalize on opportunities to improve the overall institutional capacity of the PFMU. We will improve our communication and interactions with our donors and funders, as well as the oversight of our consultants and contractors.
As a foundation, we will develop a consolidated authoritative framework for project fiduciary management. The framework will serve as an overarching prescriptive guide for executing fiduciary activities. It will capture requirements in applicable laws and regulations, including the public financial management act, the public procurement act, as well as those donor/funder specific project implementation directives and requirements. The framework will provide clarity on the intent and purpose of stipulations broadly stated in applicable laws and regulations, as well as address instances where they are at variance with donor/funder directives and requirements.
We will also embark on actions intended to strengthen fiduciary oversight and monitoring of the end-to-end process of project management. We will increase monitoring activities over key processes in the project lifecycle, including procurement, contract management, financial management, and implementation. We will ensure day-to-day compliance with procurement and contract requirements, drive effectiveness in fiduciary activities related to project implementation, and proactively identify and address risks and weaknesses noted in contract management and project oversight activities. We will identify in advance and address risks that are likely to cause delays, cost overruns, and quality assurance issues in contractor delivery.
We will implement a project performance remediation tracking system. The proposed system will serve as a platform for tracking of findings, recommendations, and corrective actions taken across projects in response to financial statements audits, donor mission reviews, as well as weaknesses noted in our fiduciary oversight and monitoring activities. The tracking system will also provide a monthly snapshot of status of findings, outstanding recommendations, as well as the status of corrective actions taken by responsible parties to address the recommendations monthly.
To provide us with an objective process for identifying contractor past performance during procurement stage, we will implement a standard framework for monitoring and reporting on the contractor performance history. The proposed automated database will capture and measure how well each contractor performs using several parameters, including adherence to prescribed period of performance, staying within budget, and meeting quality specifications.
Given challenges faced by some contractors, including capacity shortcomings, limited access to equipment and logistics, and challenges accessing material supplies, we believe that a network for collaboration among contractors will be an added value. We will therefore jointly facilitate a quarterly forum which will serve as a platform for sharing lessons learned, standard solutions to challenges and risks, and best practices among contractors. The forum will also provide opportunities for networking, shared services, and knowledge sharing opportunities. We will use the platform for government and donor stakeholders to sensitize contractors and promote efficient and effective service delivery. The forum will bring together stakeholders from project implementation units, ministry of finance, the Presidential Delivery Unit, beneficiary MDAs, donor organizations, and contractors.
What we have described in this piece are not mere words, but a true set of commitments to delivery. We have embarked on a systematic process to design, implement, and institutionalize as the new norm at PFMU, and the way we interact with our stakeholders going forward.
Author: Writer is Mustapha Wai, a U.S-trained certified public account and management consultant, and currently the Team Lead at Project Fiduciary Management Unit, in the Ministry of Finance.
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