Coalition wants public input in procurement review

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition says the ongoing review of the public procurement processes must be made transparent for public scrutiny. 

The review has become necessary at a time the public is demanding greater accountability and transparency in the conduct of procurement with public funds.

Mr. Roland Akabzaa, Research Officer, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, told B&FT in an interview -- after a workshop organised by the United Nations Global Compact and partnered by the Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) -- in Accra that the review process is targetted at reflecting the current development and global best practice in the procurement of goods and services. 

“They should bring the document to the public, so that we can scrutinise it before it is passed by Parliament. 

This will benefit the country. I am not sure that the public is aware of the ongoing review of the document. 

“The problem we have is that the review process is not transparent; the promoters should bring the document to the public and make it transparent for all of us to have an input before it finally goes to Parliament, so that we are sure we have a good document to avoid future amendment,” he said.

Speaking under the theme “Fighting Corruption in the Supply Chain”, Mr. Akabzaa said it is necessary to put in place systems to curb corruption to improve quality of products and services, reduce fraud, improve businesses and enhance the reputation of the country.

An assessment by the Global Integrity Report in 2011 revealed that Ghana scored 84 percent in mechanisms to fighting corruption, but scored less than 20 percent when it came to implementation. 

“Corruption is common because of weak institutions mandated to enforce the laws, inefficient procurement processes and lack of transparent processes and procedures,” Mr. Akabzaa said.

Making a presentation on health and safety at the workplace, Mr. Desmond Appiah, Principal Consultant at Sustainable Ghana Limited, said organisations need to develop the mindset for health and safety to avoid any unforeseen situation which affects productivity.

He stated that four per cent of global annual GDP is lost through direct and indirect cost of occupational accidents. 

The International Labour Organisation estimates that 2.3 million people die each year through work-related issues.

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition is a cross-sectoral grouping of public, private and civil society organisations with the sole aim of building a national effort to confront the problem of corruption and devise effective control measures.