Procurement Minister advocates stiffer punishment for corrupt officials

Minister of State in charge of Government Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has stated that corruption should be made a high risk activity to achieve the “Ghana Beyond Aid” initiative

Public officers who are found liable of the act, she said, should be severely punished to serve as deterrent to others.

She lamented the alarming quantum of resources and revenues being lost through corruption and mis-procurement.

The Minister, also Deputy Majority leader in Parliament, offered the suggestion in a welcome address she delivered on Saturday at a workshop in Koforidua, for leadership of Parliament and selected parliamentary committees on public procurement .

Organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Procurement, the theme of the workshop was, ‘Enhancing parliamentary oversight through public procurement.”

According to her, 80% of negative findings captured in the Auditor General’s report are public procurement malpractices.