ll procurements exceeding GHS 50m will now have to be approved by the presidency, Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has revealed.

Ms Safo, who paid a visit to the Ministry of Education recently, lauded the sector Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh for adhering to the procurement laws in the various procurement activities his office is undertaking for the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

Ms Safo used the opportunity to also advise Dr Prempeh and his team to be mindful of a new directive from cabinet that requires that any procurement that exceeds the GHS50million threshold gets approval from the presidency.

The Public Procurement Minister used the occasion to inform the Education Minister and his team about some of the policies she is implementing to strengthen the country’s procurement system to ensure value for money.

For instance, she said in order to strengthen the capacities of local contractors, the government has made it a policy where 70% of all its contracts or projects shall be awarded to local contractors.

Out of this 70%, 30% of the contracts or projects shall be awarded to Persons With Disability (PWDs), women and those in youth employment.

“It is a policy the government under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is committed to implementing. Very soon, my office will come out with how it is going to be done,” she noted.

She also told Dr Prempeh and his team about her efforts to get the two existing Public Procurement Acts (Act 663) and Public Procurement (Amended) Act (Act 914), harmonised for easy reading and referencing.

She revealed plans by her office to establish an e-platform where a database of all contractors involved in government projects will be set up to enable them rate their performance from time to time.

“With this database, the citizenry could at any given time, assess the performance of all the contractors to know who is doing well and who is doing badly,” she explained.

On his part, Dr Prempeh expressed his office’s appreciation to Ms Safo for the visit and noted that the government’s flagship Free SHS policy would be implemented with due regard to the laws of the land.

He said the policy which is packed with equity, quality and employable skills, would be rolled out in three weeks’ time and was optimistic that its successful implementation will inure to the benefit of all.

The Education Minister further noted that despite the heavy investment the government is making in the implementation of the Free SHS policy, his office would also ensure that subsidies for continuing students, capitation grant and teacher trainee allowances are promptly paid.