Accra, Aug. 22, GNA - Government has underscored the need for efficient and transparent procurement procedures that have the capacity of assisting local suppliers and improve their competencies in applying for public contracts.

Such a procedure would reduce bribery and widespread corrupt practices in public sector procurement, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said on Wednesday. He was speaking at a Public Forum in Accra during which he launched the Procurement Bulletin that provides information on procurement procedures, the procurement law and strategic dynamics of the procurement system.

According to Mr Baah-Wiredu, a transparent system offered numerous benefits including better value for money, encouraging investment, innovation, partnership and reduction of corruption that the procedures sought to eliminate.

Government introduced the Public Procurement Act in 2003 to bring sanity into public procurement and ensure that the nation saved money by cutting out dubious practices. Mr Baah-Wiredu said the principal objective of any transparent and efficient public procurement was the attainment of a timely and cost effective implementation of public sector activities devoid of all traces of corruption.

"It is likely to widen the level of participation and improve on accountability in the public sector."

Mr Baah-Wiredu, however, said it was an efficient and transparent system would prove elusive if there were lapses in the process of information dissemination.

"It is the lifeline to any efficient public procurement system, hence the decision to come out with a Procurement Bulletin." The idea, he said, was because an efficient public procurement could not operate in the dark, "hence the framers of Act 663 (Procurement Act) devoted attention to various innovative methods of enhancing information dissemination in Ghana's public procurement". He expressed the hope that the Public Procurement Board would continue to improve on its information system on public procurement to ensure better accountability of state resources. Mr Kwesi Abesa, Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Board (PPB), said the Bulletin would provide a one-stop shop for all information on all public procurements.

He said the Board had since 2003 advertised in numerous newspapers for tenders while government institutions spent huge amounts publishing in both local and foreign media as required by law. He said due to the high cost involved, most of these entities had not fulfilled this obligation.

Mr Abesa said it was for this reason that the Board worked out the Bulletin to ensure that the Procurement Act's objective for transparency and open competitiveness was facilitated at minimal cost. Mr Ali Baba Abature, Special Assistant to Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, Mayor of Accra, expressed worry about the Act, saying it was silent on the appointment of personnel.

He said it was not clear whether or not the Public Procurement Board, like other key agencies, would recruit and post staff to the unit or that the AMA should take full responsibility to resource the unit. 22 Aug. 07