How to Combat Procurement Fraud

The private bi-weekly, Free Press, reports that the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) has advised the government to ensure that all procurement departments in the public sector are manned by professionals to help minimize corruption, often associated with the government sector.

At a press conference in Accra last Tuesday, the Acting President of the Association, Mr. S. Ando-Kwofie said in many government departments, procurement invoices are either under or over valued resulting in huge losses to the nation with the few individuals benefiting from "this white colour crime".

To combat this practice, Mr. Andoh-Kwofie noted that it was only procurement officers who were members of the Institute that could be sanctioned and not those who were appointed procurement officers for one reason or the other.

He cited as example recent reports of the Auditor General the Serious Fraud Office on the operations of some Ministries, Departments and other Agencies of the Central Government and District Assemblies as revealing a catalogue of procurement malpractices, which, to him, must not be allowed to continue in this era of positive change.