The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) says it will soon reject sole sourcing and restricted tender by entities on boarded onto the Ghana Electronic Procurement system (GHANEPS) but fail to use the system for its tendering processes.
The authority is also envisaging facing out all manual tender processes by the end of 2023.
The Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS) is a web-based, collaborative system developed by the requirement of public procurement laws, to facilitate public procurement processes in Ghana by minimizing human interface.
The software offers a secure, interactive, dynamic ecosystem for carrying out procurement of all categories, complexity or value.
GHANEPS supports processes of procuring goods, consultancy, non-Consultancy, works, and disposal of assets. The system supports various public procurement procedures including user registration, tender notification, tender preparation and submission, online tender evaluation; contract awarding, creation and management of catalog, creation, and management of framework agreements and auctions and payments.
Currently, 197 entities live on the GHANEPS system with 1,576 procurement officers and 1,307 management members and other essential entity staff has been trained on how to use the system. Again, 1,379 users have been created for 197 entities with 155 suppliers are also on the platform.
Speaking to the media in Koforidua at the closing of a training session for management and procurement officers in the Eastern region after a month-long Roll-Out of all public entities in the region including Regional Coordinating Council, MMDAs, Tertiary Institutions, all Public Hospitals onto the Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS), the Acting Chief Executive Officer of PPA, Mr. Frank Mante said the authority is expecting entities already on boarded to conduct their procurements including a request for quotation, national competitive tendering, International competitive tendering, restrictive tendering and single source via the system to avert rejection.
He said the authority is gradually onboarding public entities onto the system every month with the expectation that by October 2023 over 660 public entities will be fully operational on the system.
The CEO of PPA said Ghana’s Electronic Procurement System forms part of a wider Public Financial Management Reforms (PFMR) Programme which will ensure transparency in government procurement, increase access to procurement information and transactions reduce conflict of interest, and fraudulent activities as well as corruption.
He mentioned the system will lead to economic transformation. “The ability for political leaders to meet their promises of economic and social improvements is closely related to how well public procurement functions”.
The Eastern Regional Minister Seth Acheampong encouraged the procurement officers in the region to leverage the system to improve efficiency and value for money.
Koforidua Technical University (KTU) which was part of five (5) entities namely the Department of Feeder Roads, Ghana Cocoa Board, Ghana Health Service selected to pilot the program was given a citation for excelling in its usage.
The Vice-Chancellor of KTU, Prof. David Kofi Essumang told the media that the e-procurement Platform is a game-changer in Ghana’s procurement system stating that it will drastically reduce corruption and conflict of interest.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
