Sarah Adwoa Safo
MINISTER OF State in charge of Public Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo has warned Procurement practitioners against their professional code of conduct.
According to the Minister, practitioners who breach Procurement code of ethics and conduct risk being sacked.
She has therefore called for a regime of accountability on the part of procurement officers within the public sector.
The Dome-Kwabenya Constituency lawmaker issued the warning when she unveiled a Committee tasked with the responsibility to formulate a code of conduct that will set the highest ethical standards for benchmarking procurement practitioners, suppliers, members of the evaluation panel, members of the Tender Review Committee, members of the Board as well as contractors and service providers and proffer sanctions where necessary.
She observed that “as procurement practitioners, we should be prepared to be accountable for the decisions we take and legally justify our official decisions and actions. Procurement officers shall not use or misuse their positions for private gain. This ethical standard when breached constitutes a serious breach of professional integrity.”
The Professional Ethics and Standards Committee for Procurement professionals which is chaired by Stella Aku Abbey, who is also the President of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, has three months to present its report.
Other members of the Committee include; Dr. Emmanuel Yaw Boakye, Technical Director, Ministry of Public Procurement, Mr. Solomon Sasu-Mensah, Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Public Procurement, Ms. Naa Shika, Ministry of Public Procurement, Ing. Ebenezer K. Haizel, Ghana Institute of Engineers, Ing. Kofi E. Howard, Ghana Institute of Engineers, Surv. Humphrey T. Amegadoe, FGhIS, Ghana Institute of Surveyors, Surv. Helen Arthur, MGhIS, Ghana Institute of Surveyors, Mrs. Rhoda E. Appiah, Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Mr. David S. Amoah, PPA, Mr. Sam Acheampong (FCIPS), Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), Mr. Collins Agyemang Sarpong, Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GIPS) and Mr. Benjamin Baidoo, Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GIPS).
The rest are Mr. Ebenezer Essilfie-Baiden, Head of Civil Service, Mr. Debrah Tetteh Odonkor, Civil Service, Mrs. Janet Ampadu Fofie, Public Service Commission, Mrs. Enerstina Oppong-Yeboah, Public Service Commission, Mrs. Eunice Osae, Local Government Service, Issaka Abdul –Jamil, Bernard Asamany, Health Service Supply Chain Practitioners Association Ghana (HESSCPAG), Edwin Adnortey Agbugbla, HESSCPAG, Daphne Lariba Nabila and a representative each from the Ministry of Finance and Ghana Bar Association (GBA).
It has its terms of reference enshrined in Section 86 of the Public Procurement Act (Act 663) as amended.
BY Melvin Tarlue