Don’t abuse sole sourcing – Bawumia

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has warned government appointees not to abuse sole sourcing, although it is legal and necessary under some circumstances.

He gave the caution at the opening of a six-day special training programme on public procurement in Accra on Monday, 29 May, 2017.

“We have seen and heard of incidences of the abuse of procurement processes, especially on the reliance on the infamous sole sourcing approach. Sole sourcing is actually quite legal and there are circumstances under which it is necessary, but it should not be abused,” he stated.

According to Dr Bawumia, the rules and regulations of public procurement have occasionally been flouted by government appointees and public servants, hence the need for the training programme.

He said: “Ghana, like most evolving economies, has fully adopted the decentralised system of public procurement of goods and services and works since the mid-2000s as part of the public financial reforms. However, the rules and regulations of public procurement in Ghana have been occasionally flouted by government appointees and public servants who are supposed to be the great custodians of the public procurement law.

“I’ve had the occasion in the past when we were in opposition to list and discuss some of such infractions of the law. Given the non-negotiable significance of public procurement in the governance of our country and the resounding victory granted by the good people of Ghana on the aegis of the trust that the NPP government is more capable of handling corruption head-on, the four month-old government of Nana Akufo-Addo is desirous of doing government business on the right footing, hence this special training programme designed to build the capacity of government appointees and heads of institutions on the essential provisions of the public procurement law, the PFM law and the budget appropriation processes in order to avoid some of the mistakes of the past and achieve more tangible development results for Ghana.”

Dr Bawumia encouraged participants to take the training seriously since the right public procurement processes do not only protect the public purse but will also save the appointees involved.

“For all of you here at one time or the other will be held accountable for your stewardship of the various institutions that you are in. One of the key areas of accountability will be in accountability for procurement because this is where we are able to protect the public purse. So, as well as protecting the public purse is concerned, I think this training programme will also help you to protect yourselves, because at one point or the other you will be asked to account for your stewardship,” he said.

Present on the first day of the training programme was the Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Public Procurement, Adwoa Safo.