Agyenim Boateng Adjei (right) unveiling the code
The Procurement Authority (PPA) has reportedly managed to save the state an amount of GH¢98 million over a period of nine months.
PPA claimed the amount would have otherwise been ‘looted’ from public coffers by some corrupt government appointees at ministries, departments and agencies through padded contract sums and other procurement malpractices.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PPA, Agyenim Boateng Adjei, made the disclosure in a keynote address on Tuesday in Accra during the launch of the Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GiPS) Code of Ethics and Conduct for procurement and supply professionals and practitioners in Ghana.
According to him, the establishment of the Due Diligence Unit and the Procurement Audit Unit at PPA ensured the savings.
He said the Authority, with the introduction of the two units, conducted underground checks on contract sums submitted to it by some agencies, ministries and departments.
It was realized in many instances that the sums put forward by the institutions were far above the prevailing open market prices, he added.
He said the Authority, in the interest of the state, was compelled to force such institutions to reduce the over-bloated contract sums by the percentage margin of prevailing market price, leading to the savings of GH¢98 million.
The mandate of the Due Diligence Unit is to ascertain the qualification of the nominated suppliers, contractors and consultants to be able to undertake any contract that may be awarded to them.
“The savings we are talking about is just a tip of an iceberg in a sense that we are only dealing with two methods of procurements at PPA’s level. PPA only grants approval for restrictive and sole-sourced applications,” he told BUSINESS GUIDE on the sidelines of the launch.
“But the majority of procurement is supposed to be undertaken by open competitive methods which include the use of request for quotation, use of national competitive bidding, the use of international competitive bidding,” he said.
According to him, “Now these procurement methods are not directly managed by PPA so we are showing the example that for the two methods that come to PPA, this is the kind of savings we have been able to make.”
Code
The code of ethics, he said, was anchored on four general principles namely, creating the right environment to ensure competitiveness and value for money, ensuring a fair and transparent outcome for all procurement processes, adhering to the effective operation and application of organizations’ or clients’ procurement policies and operating procedures, and prevention of financial loss to the business community and the state.
“Considering the enormous role public procurement plays in the socio-economic development of countries, it is instructive to say that procurement as a profession has to be given due recognition in Ghana to enable it play its strategic role through value addition and risk mitigation that will impact positively on Ghana’s economy.”
“Procurement professionals and practitioners are therefore expected to conduct their activities in a transparent, judicious and non-discriminatory manner to achieve value for money,” he said.
According to him, “The prevailing narrative of non-compliance and corruption in the practice continues to dent the image of the procurement profession.”
The CEO lamented that “it is even more disheartening to realize that procurement professionals who are supposed to guide our politicians to save the public purse, end up conniving with them and sometimes misconducting themselves under the guise of fear of threats of demotion, loss of jobs or relegation to the background in their institutions.”
By Melvin Tarlue