…TMM’s Blackmail Efforts Backfire
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
The Independent Procurement Review Panel (IPRP) has dismissed a complaint filed by Tiwai Memory Masters Ltd (TMM) against the Sierra Leone Digital Transformation Project under the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation (MoCTI), ruling that the 88.86% technical score awarded to the company was “fair and correct.”
In its ruling dated October 6, 2026, the Panel upheld the evaluation conducted in the World Bank-funded procurement for the supply, installation, implementation and support of Government Wide Area Networks (GWAN) and Government Local Area Networks (GLANs) across Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
TMM had challenged the 88.86% score after conducting its own assessment and concluding that its technical proposal deserved approximately 96%. The company argued that the procuring entity had failed to adequately explain the deductions applied during the evaluation and subsequently sought redress from the IPRP.
However, after examining written evidence and hearing oral submissions from both parties, the Panel rejected TMM’s complaint, finding that the deductions were justified by deficiencies identified in the company’s own proposal and measured against the rated criteria contained in the Request for Proposals.
“The mark allocated to the Complainant was fair and correct, taking into account all the arithmetic calculations and the evaluation process carried out,” the Panel ruled, adding that each deduction was supported by documented deficiencies in TMM’s proposal.
During the proceedings, the Respondent outlined several weaknesses that resulted in deductions, including inconsistent vendor terminology and equipment models, generic security and high-availability plans, insufficient differentiation between GLAN requirements for small, medium and large organisations, inadequate device-level architecture details and shortcomings in regional metro-network coverage and resilience.
The Panel was also informed that TMM proposed approximately 61.4 kilometres of fibre against the 208 kilometres specified in the procurement requirements and omitted Port Loko from its proposed regional metro-network design. Concerns were also raised about the absence of adequate redundancy and failover arrangements.
The Respondent further identified inconsistencies in equipment specifications, missing information, conflicting technical details and sections of the proposal that reportedly contained material associated with other vendors or projects.
Despite these shortcomings, the Evaluation Committee did not disqualify TMM but instead deducted marks from relevant rated criteria while crediting areas where the company demonstrated technical strengths.
The Panel also raised a serious concern of its own regarding the curriculum vitae of Rashid Abu, one of the personnel presented by TMM. According to the ruling, TMM indicated that Abu had been in its employment for the past 10 years, while the Panel found that he was working for the Central Bank of Sierra Leone.
“We found that Rashid Abu working for the Central Bank of Sierra Leone cannot at the same time be in a full-time employment with the Complainant,” the Panel stated, describing the act as “tantamount to fraud” and directing that such conduct must stop immediately.
The IPRP also criticised TMM representative Mohamed Alpheus Turay over what it described as derogatory remarks directed at the Respondent and the Panel during the proceedings. The Panel warned Turay to desist from such conduct, while stressing that its decision was based solely on the evidence, oral submissions and applicable law.
Following its review, the Panel dismissed TMM’s complaint and formally confirmed the technical score of 88.86 out of 100, effectively vindicating MoCTI and the Sierra Leone Digital Transformation Project on the central dispute over the technical evaluation.
The Panel also lifted with immediate effect any suspension of the procurement process arising from the complaint and directed the Respondent to proceed with the opening of financial proposals and eventual award of the contract in accordance with the RFP and applicable procurement regulations.
TMM, however, remains eligible to proceed to the next stage of the procurement process.
The Panel further highlighted the importance of the World Bank-funded project to Sierra Leone and expressed concern that the procurement dispute should not jeopardise an initiative expected to benefit the country.
With the complaint now dismissed, the procurement process is expected to proceed, while the IPRP’s decision provides independent confirmation that the disputed 88.86% technical score was supported by the evaluation criteria and deficiencies identified in TMM’s proposal.
