John Kumah
The Deputy Minister of Finance, John Ampotuah Kumah has disclosed that the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has safeguarded Ghana’s resource allocation in the past few years.
According to him, the PPA represents a unique opportunity to use Ghana’s purchasing power strategically to make substantial progress towards a Ghana Beyond Aid.
He made this assertion at the 10th Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Annual Public Forum with the Heads of State-Owned Enterprises, the Members of the Governing Board of Public Procurement Authority, and the Leaders of other Public Sector Institutions
He was speaking on behalf of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The Deputy Minister, also MP for Ejisu noted that the government has put structures to enhance accountability, ethical custodianship of public resources, and advance progress across these pillars to realize a Ghana Beyond Aid.
He said that through the journey towards an independent nation, the government provides economic management, investment, social justice, and public services, while the private sector complements government activity to drive sustainable progress.
“The PPA will also lead a radical charge toward the enhancement of value achieved from public procurement through the government aims, ambitious and progressive to possess the ingenuity and drive to leverage the private sector, he stated.
Mr. Kumah averred that the sheer size of public expenditure is typically 15-30 percent of GDP in advanced countries makes it a powerful force for change adding that the General Government Consumption Expenditure as a percentage of GDP averaged according to the World Bank that is “12.14% across Sub Saharan Africa (2016-2020) and 9.2% in Ghana (2016-2019)”.
He maintained that the governments must have their activities anchored on transparency, fairness, and value for money to achieve their goals.
The Authority has realized record savings of approximately GHS 2.3 billion from 2019 – August 2021 on public expenditure, the introduction, and implementation of an e-procurement system (dubbed the Ghana Electronic Procurement System – GHANEPS), Preparation of regulations to the Public Procurement Act, and the Nationwide public procurement training for public sector officials.
He asserted that the government has inhibited Ghana’s level of economic maturity by not pursuing spending practices that are efficient, transparent, cost-effective, ethical, and equitable.
“When procurement infractions arise, we all feel the impact, and that’s why we should all care,’’ said John Kumah.
“By working in tandem with the private sector, we can impact the realization of broader policy objectives such as promoting innovation, sustainability, and supporting our local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)) through our public procurement,’’ he said.
BY Daniel Bampoe