As part of the yearning quest to drastically reduce wastage in the procurement of goods, works and services in the Public sector, a two-day capacity building workshop on procurement and supply chain management was held in Accra. It was a 3rd in the series under the theme, “Advancing the Frontiers of Procurement and Supply Chain management in Ghana”.

The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Procurement and Supply Chain Department of the Office of the Head of civil Service (OHCS) brought together practitioners from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies;(MMDAs), the Private Sector; Professional Bodies, as well as the Educational institutions countrywide.

Dr. Affotey-Walters, the Director of Procurement Department of the OHCS, an expert in the procurement profession took participants through the role of the Public Procurement Authority in advancing the frontiers of public procurement in Ghana.

He urged participants to give proper advice to their respective authorities, since it ensures efficiency and effectiveness in the smooth running of their various units, by determining the risk factors in every contractual agreement they engage in.

He was of the view that single sourcing in procuring goods and services per se was not a problem, but the flaw is hinged on its implementations as it needs to be followed certain ethical consideration consistent with the Act 663.

Dr. Walters observed that most often, practitioners do not have good working relationships with their superiors which impede the discharge of their duties. He further urged them to build collaborative relationships with their superiors in order to enhance better service delivery.

He encouraged practitioners to constantly seek for knowledge in order to improve on their competencies and expertise; which could enhance their service delivery. In an emphasis, Dr. Affotey-Walters stressed that the acquisition of the knowledge could ultimately give them much needed recognition in their profession.

The Director of Public Investment Division of Ministry of Finance Mrs. Magdalene Apenteng, touched on the concept of Public Private Partnership (PPP) agenda in Ghana.

She stressed that, the PPP concept is a laudable one, since the Private Sector takes the maximum risk as against the government of Ghana.

Mrs. Appenteng, charged Procurement practitioners to endeavor to open up for more competition. According to her competition allows the system to get expected result or value for money in their procurement engagements.

On Her part, the Chief Director of the Office of the Head of Civil Service (OHCS), Mrs, Cynthia Asare Bediako, who was also the Chairperson for the function, said; in order to advance on the socio-economic and infrastructural pursuit of the country, there was the need for the public sector to recruits procurement officers with requisite expertise and competencies.

“These requirements can engender efficiency and effectiveness and ultimately brings value for money in their procurement processes for the nation”, She Urged.

She therefore commended the Procurement Directorates of OHCS, for organizing the workshop aimed at building the capacities of the procurement practitioners in the public sector.

The event also witness the signing of the MOU between CIPS and Procurement and Supply Chain Management Department for Licensing of the procurement Practitioners so that if one is not a member of the body He/She could not be allowed to practice in the Civil and Local Government Service.

There was also a-round Table discussing on the role of procurement in PPP by some leading experts in the field of procurement in Ghana, to further broaden the discourse so that the practitioners could appropriately appreciate the nuances in the procurement sector.