SPECIAL TRAINING SESSION FOR MMDCES (SEPT 21, PAGE 13)

A special training session on the Public Procurement Act 2003, Act 663 and Budgetary Processes has been held for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), Co-ordinating Directors and Finance Officers from the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.
The two-day programme, which was organised by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning discussed “Procurement Planning — Its Significance in the Budget and Process”, “Administrative Reviews, Procedures and Appeals Complaints Panel Processes”, “Guidelines on Margin of Preference”, “Public Expenditure and Financial Management” and “Overview of Budget Guidelines”.
The special training session was designed to furnish the participants with the requisite knowledge on the provisions of the Public Procurement Act and equip them to deliver on their mandate in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner as direct representatives of the Government at the local level.
In an opening address, delivered on his behalf, the Chairman of the PPA governing board, Commodore Steve Obimpeh (Retd), explained that the principle of fairness, accountability and transparency, which had for over a decade formed the bedrock of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, actually resonated with the fundamental tenets and objectives of the Act.
The Act, he further explained, basically sought to provide both administrative and institutional arrangements for public procurement, with the overall objective of ensuring that state resources were harnessed in a judicious, economic and efficient manner to obtain value for every cedi spent.
Cdr Obimpeh admitted that public procurement, which accounted for over 70 per cent of government expenditure after personnel emoluments was under a critical component of government expenditure management structure, and, therefore, required efficient and prudent management to be able to administer the economy of the state.
“Thus, as key stakeholders and mangers of your respective assemblies, you are expected to attain a good appreciation of the law that governs its practice in order to effectively eliminate waste and rather make good savings for government as much as possible,” he stressed.
That notwithstanding, the PPA governing board chairman indicated that governance institutions which come under the scope of application of the Act were without doubt facing daunting implementation challenges, saying notable among those had been the identified capacity gaps leading to gross misunderstanding of its provisions.
He emphasised that it was in that view that the PPA had since its inception not relented in its efforts to build the capacities of its varied stakeholders.
Cdr Obimpeh disclosed that the PPA had over the past three years trained more than 8,000 public procurement functionaries and about 1,500 personnel in oversight institutions such as the Internal Audit Agency and the Auditor General’s Department, under its nationwide short-term training programme.
Again, he indicated that other capacity building programmes had been held for members of the Public Accounts Committee of the immediate past Parliament and other special constitutional bodies.
The Chairman further disclosed that so far over 150 sector Ministers, Ministers of State, key staff of the Office of the President, as well as Regional Ministers, their Deputies and Regional Co-ordinating Directors, had been trained since August this year.
He expressed the hope that the special training session and subsequent ones planned for heads of government departments and agencies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) would go a long way to consolidate the gains of previous capacity building initiatives, and create the much needed awareness on the provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PPA, Mr A. B. Adjei, who gave an overview of the programme, pointed out that the Act applied to the procurement of goods, works and services, financed in whole or in part from public funds, and that it aimed at ensuring that public procurement was carried out in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner, using state resources in a judicious, economic and efficient way.
Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, in a welcoming address, cautioned that “if you do not follow the Act, you will find yourself in trouble”, and reminded the participants of the startling revelations of the Auditor General’s report.
He noted that there had been tremendous value addition ever since the Act was enacted in 2003, adding that the law not only served as the main catalyst and framework which guided all procurement processes but also its effective application, promoted transparency, competitiveness and achieved value for money in the system.