Takoradi, April 8, GNA - Ghana's public procurement expenditure rose from GH¢1.4 billion in 2005 to GH¢1.78 billion in 2006, Mr Agyenim Boateng Adjei, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) said at the weekend.

Announcing this at a one day seminar organised for Higher National Diploma Students by the Takoradi Polytechnic Chapter of the Purchasing and Supply Students Association of Ghana at Takoradi, he said public procurement represents between 50-70 per cent of the national budget apart from personnel emolument.

The seminar was under the theme: "Purchasing and Supply - A Competitive Tool to Strategic Development".

Mr Adjei said the procurement policy is centred on procuring items in a fair and competitive tendering process aimed at checking against corruption and achieving value for money. He said public procurement plays a central role in the delivery of all government priorities in areas such as health, education, policing and security.

Mr Adjei said: "Public Procurement provides business opportunities and could be used as an important instrument of government policy to facilitate social and economic development. "It is a vehicle to achieve job creation, promotion of fair labour conditions, use of local labour, and improvement of the environment". Mr Adjei said majority of practitioners involved in public procurement, lacked the requisite professional expertise and knowledge of the law governing the practice.

He said as part of effort to address the capacity gaps, training modules have been developed by the Public Procurement Authority for a short-term training.

Mr Adjei said many local small and medium scale enterprises does not participate in public procurement because of the perception that government was a slow payer, difficult to work with and had its own favoured suppliers for contract awards.

He said local suppliers, contractors, architects and engineers lacked adequate capacity to participate in tenders advertised internationally and locally, particularly when values were big. Mr Alexander Akrofi, Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), Ghana, said HND qualification in Purchasing and Supply could not be equated with a first degree at the Universities. He said HND in Purchasing and Supply is a professional qualification, whilst a first degree is an academic qualification.

Mr Akrofi said CIPS recognised HND in Purchasing and Supply in addition to it being accredited by the National Accreditation Board. He said the enactment of the Procurement Act showed government's recognition that professionals have to run the economy. Mr Akrofi said the CIPS was working with government to establish career path for procurement professionals in the public and civil services.