No registration, no government contract - Public Procurement Authority to suppliers

The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has declared that suppliers who fail to register with the authority’s newly launched database will not be awarded any government contract.

In the view of the authority this move forms part of series of initiatives aimed at increasing public confidence in the authority and public sector procurement.

At the launch of the PPA’s supplier registration portal in Accra yesterday, Chief Executive Officer of the authority, A.B. Adjei said “No Registration, No Government Contract.”

According to Mr Adjei, though section 22 of the PPA Act, as amended provides that a tenderer in public procurement must possess the necessary professional and technical qualifications and competence, financial resources and managerial capabilities, these requirements have not been observed.

To ensure these requirements were adhered to, Mr Adjei said there was the need for the PPA to assert itself as an authority in the application of section 3(p) of the Act that mandates the authority to develop and maintain a comprehensive supplier data base that can support effective policy formulation and decision making such as the process of debarment of suppliers and other service provider support systems.

“In view of this the PPA wishes to bring to the attention of the general public that effective yesterday Monday June 11, 2018, all suppliers, contractors and consultants interested in participating in government tenders must as a matter of law register with valid documents as per supplier qualification requirement of section 22 of Act 663 [PPA Act] as amended on our newly developed centralised supplier registration portal available on www.ppaghana.org”, Mr Adjei announced.

The registration cost, he said has been categorised into two – GH¢300 for local firms and US$200 for foreign entities – using any of their approved electronic systems.

“We wish to assure the public that these documentations will be taken through a rigorous vetting process for verification and validation to establish their credibility to engage in government of Ghana tenders and execute contracts”, Mr Adjei stated.

The mandatory eligibility documents include business registration certificates, valid Value Added Tax registration, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) registration, Ministries of Works and Housing and Roads and Highways and labour (where applicable) certificates.

As part of the benefits to both suppliers and government, Mr Adjei said suppliers will be relieved of the burden of multiple registrations at various procuring entities which eventually increases their cost of doing business and adding that suppliers enlisted on the portal will also have the added advantage of receiving electronic push notifications of tender notices relevant to their areas of business as indicated in the portal.

In a ten minutes demonstration on how one can get registered onto the portal, an applicant first visit the PPA website, creates a user account, log in, choose if the firm is a local or foreign company, following which supplier number is generated for payment and is instantly listed on the portal as a recognized firm by the PPA.

“This supplier registration process is a strategic initiative to prepare the nation for the soon to be rolled out Electronic Government Procurement system”, he stressed.