The efforts of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Minister of State in Charge of Public Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo, towards transforming the procurement sector, have been recognized with the two leaders receiving honours at the maiden Ghana Procurement & Supply Chain Awards 2018.

While the President, Akufo-Addo picked the Outstanding Change Leadership Award, Sarah Adwoa Safo received the prestigious Sustainable Procurement Transformation Award.

The award for the President was received on his behalf by Adwoa Safo who is also the Deputy Majority Leader, Parliament of Ghana.

The Awards Night which was organized by Instinct Wave at the plush Movenpick Hotel in Accra, Friday, September 7, 2018, also had some individuals and institutions that have distinguished themselves in the procurement sector being honoured.

Addressing the gathering as the Guest of honour, Adwio Safo revealed that professionals in the procurement business, both public and private, would soon be measured to determine the level of their performance in the field in which find themselves in.

To roll out this activity, she said a Professional Ethics and Standards Committee has been set up by her Ministry to properly draft a comprehensive document on the acceptable ethics and standards to guide the players in the procurement business.

“These standards would be the basis for benchmarking the performance of all Procurement practitioners in this country”, she noted.

Commenting further, Adwoa Safo spelt out the mandate of her Ministry and distinguished it from that of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to address concerns raised by a cross section of the public that the roles of the two public institutions conflict.

“Our role does not conflict at all with that of the PPA. Our mandate is to develop new policies and assist government set the proper strategies in procurement to enhance the implementation of the Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended”, she explained.

She thanked organizers of the event for coming out with such an initiative to recognize the efforts of individuals and institutions that are doing their best to transform the procurement sector.