Public Procurement Authority to establish media corps

By Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, April 2, GNA – The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) is considering the development of a media corps with specialisation in procurement reporting.

Mr Agyenim Boateng Adjei, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PPA, said the Authority would provide training for the journalists, who were interested in procurement issues in order to build their capacity to ensure accurate reportage on procurement issues. 

He said the PPA remained resolute in its mandate to provide effective oversight on all procurement activities in the country as they continued to be transparent and accountable in dealings in accordance with the newly enacted Right to Information (RTI) law.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Meet the Press Series in Accra, Mr Adjei said: “Our plea to the public, especially the media, civil society, individuals or any group of persons interested in pursuing public procurement information should be circumspect with the information we make available to the Public and should avoid casting aspersions and creating unnecessary anxiety which can erode the confidence so reposed in Ghana’s public procurement processes”. 

The Meet the Press was to enable the CEO to address the nation on some of the programmes and activities of the PPA as well as other critical issues confronting the Authority and its operations and communications with the general public in recent times are concerned.

He announced that the PPA had been nominated to receive the Quality Choice Prize in Berlin, Germany on July 7, by the European Society for Quality Research.

He said the Authority’s doors were always open to provide the necessary clarity on procurement issues to entrench transparency and accountability in Ghana’s procurement system. 

Mr Adjei said the “long awaited” e-Government Procurement System known as GHANEPS was currently running live with five procurement entities, namely the Ghana Health Service, Department of Feeder Roads, Koforidua Technical University, COCOBOD, and Tema Metropolitan Assembly participating in its pilot programme.

He hoped that the e-government procurement system would be formally out doored in the coming weeks. 

With regard to the need for increased thresholds, the CEO said as per Section 18 (1) of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663 as amended, the Head of Entity had a responsibility to ensure provisions of the Procurement Act as amended are complied with.

Section 18 (2) of the Act specifically states that: “Concurrent approvals obtained by the Entity from a Tender Review Committee shall not absolve the Head of Entity from accountability for any Contract entered into by the Entity which is inconsistent with a provision of this Act”. 

Mr Adjei said it was instructive therefore, to conclude that the Head of Entity had a singular responsibility to develop the necessary capacity to understand and oversee the procurement processes as required by Law for effective implementation.

He said to assist in carrying out this responsibility, Section 18(3) (a-f) outlined clearly the specific functions of the head of entity among which included the setting up of a functional Procurement Unit managed by Professional Procurement personnel.

He said most entities had failed to comply with the requirement to establish functional Procurement Units with qualified procurement Professionals to provide them with the necessary technical procurement support.

He said in the opinion of the Board of PPA, most of the Entity Tender Committee (ETC) members, by their backgrounds possessed the requisite technical and professional capabilities required to effectively review Evaluation Reports.

He, therefore, challenged them to assume the responsibility of reviewing reasonably high Value Procurement by increasing the ETC thresholds.

He said in so doing, the entities would be empowered and be held accountable for their actions.

Madam Ama Dokuaa Asiamah Agyei, a Deputy Minister of Information, lauded the PPA for its efforts in establishing a press corps; stating that it would help to build the capacity of journalists in procurement reportage.

GNA

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