Mills Defies Procurement Law

…In favour of ‘chop, chop’

On being voted into office in 2001, President Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration saw the need to streamline government contract procurement, which was one area that corruption had been endemic, promulgated and passed a law through Ghana’s Parliament on government contract procurement.

It is however interesting to note with dismay and disbelief the Mills administration’s disregard when it comes to the implementation of the procurement law to the letter, and that is supposed to be a law Professor at the helm of affairs.

In the last two years well-meaning Ghanaians and the minority in Parliament have raised issues regarding the wanton abuse of one aspect of the procurement law which is to do with sole sourcing and how it’s been used in awarding contracts, particularly in road construction and so called schools under trees. An annual report that the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning is required to submit to Parliament has not been done during the entire tenure of Mills’ government. So much for accountability! It is therefore not surprising that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at a ‘crossroad’ is deploying its ‘rented press’ to accuse top party members who have been given contracts involving huge sums of money. Responding to allegations of receiving lofty contracts from President Mills, Mr. Kofi Adams, spokesperson for former President Rawlings and suspended Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, made a startling revelation of what hitherto would have been kept on the blind side of the good people of this country with regard to the levels of corrupt practices that are taking place in the full glare and with the endorsement of President Atta Mills, (Mr. incorruptible!).

According to Mr. Adams who was answering questions put to him by some morning show hosts on a couple of Accra based-radio stations, he reveled that it has been a practice by the Mills administration to send pending contracts and scholarships to NDC party Headquarters for onwards distribution to party members at the expense of the procurement law which was promulgated by the NPP government when they came to power in 2001 to check corruption.

With these revelations by the Deputy General Secretary, Ghanaians want President Mills to “walk the talk” and put corruption that has eaten into every fabric of his so-called “holier than thou” administration in check.