The Chairman of the Public Procurement Agency (PPA) Governing Council, Commodore Steve Obimpeh (Rtd), has appealed to Metropolitan, Municipal and District assemblies to be conversant with the Public Procurement Law and ensure strict enforcement.
Commodore Obimpeh said this at the opening of a two-day training workshop for chief executives of MMDAs from the southern sector aimed at bringing them abreast with provisions of the law.
He expressed concern that most heads of institutions do not understand the provisions of the law and said as key stakeholders and managers they were required to attain a good appreciation of the law in order to eliminate waste.
Commodore Obimpeh said some governance institutions were also facing daunting implementation challenges and as such were misapplying some of the provisions in the law that basically seek to provide both administrative and institutional arrangements for public procurement.
He said to entrench the principles of accountability and transparency the PPA had organized workshops and training courses to build the capacities of all stakeholders and that more than 8,000 public procurement functionaries and 1,500 personnel in oversight institutions like the Internal Audit Agency, have benefited nationwide.
Commodore Obimpeh said ministers and other government appointees have also been trained and expressed the hope that the special training courses would position the chief executives to effectively manage procurement activities in their areas.
He urged them to maximize the use of appropriate provisions in the law such as a leverage and assistance to the local business community to effectively compete with their foreign counterparts during national and international competitive tendering processes.
In a speech read for him Dr Kwabena Duffour, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, expressed regret that most government institutions lacked the requisite quality control and procurement plans and stressed the need for a more effective procurement system since it is essential for the achievement of socio-economic development.
He appealed to the MMDAs to allocate sufficient funds to build the capacity of procurement personnel in their areas to help check the inadequacies in the system because procurement could serve as a tool for poverty reduction if well managed.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs. Ama Benyiwa-Doe, enumerated some of the lapses in the system such as inadequate contract records and absence of contract certification and urged senior public servants and financial managers to be bold and offer the "needed constructive advice to their bosses" to help stem waste.