The Public Procurement Authority (PPA), has announced that the results of its annual public procurement assessments of entities revealed non-compliance of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).

It said the assessment showed that entities that were geographically distant from PPA’s offices performed poorly in relation to adherence to the law compared to their counterparts that had access to PPA’s advisory services.

The Chief Executive of Officer (CEO) of Public Procurement Authority, Mr. Samuel Sellas-Mensah, made this known at the inauguration of the Western and Central Regional Zonal office in Takoradi.

He said to reverse the trend, the Authority had extended its physical presence throughout the country by strategically zoning the country into Northern, Mid-Ghana, Eastern, Western and Greater Accra.

These offices were established to provide effective procurement advisory services at the door-steps of entities and assist procurement officials in the daily discharge of their duties, Mr Sellas-Mensah added.

Among other things, they would also serve as focal points for the dissemination of PPA’s policies and conduct regular monitoring of entities.

In addition, the zonal offices would provide professional guidance in the areas of drafting and execution of effective public procurement plan, facilitate capacity building and assist in the periodic assessment of activities that would inform policy decisions.

The CEO indicated that, the various zonal offices across the country have been staffed with qualified and experienced personnel made up of zonal coordinators, operational officers, assistant operation officers and administrative assistants.

“The PPA in its quest to deliver on its mandate has since its establishment embarked upon a massive capacity building exercise that has trained more than 15,000 procurement functionaries nationwide,” he revealed.

The Board Chairman of PPA, Commodore (Rtd) Steve Obimpeh, urged the staff of the Authority to harmonise the process of public procurement, for efficient use of public resources in a fair and transparent manner.

He cautioned that, the establishment of the zonal offices is not supposed to provide a conduit for lobbying for contracts by individuals and contractors but rather ensure compliance of the procurement law.**