Restrain Procurement fraud - Collins Agyemang Sarpong

President of the Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GiPS), Collins Agyemang Sarpong, has called for the passage of a special legislation to back procurement and supply in the country.

This, according to him, would minimize corrupt practices in the procurement and the supply chain sub-sector.

He made the call recently in Accra during the launch of GiPS’s Code of Ethics and Conduct for procurement and supply professionals and practitioners in Ghana.

According to him, “There is the immediate need to have a legislation backing the practice to minimize corrupt practices and also help weed to out persons who see procurement and supply as an avenue to selfishly enrich themselves.

He said Ghana is recording huge revenue losses due to procurement related fraud and irregularities.

“Apart from irregularities such as unearned salaries, misappropriation, rent irregularities, missing General Counterfoil reports, etc, in our 2015 and 2016 Auditor General’s reports, Mother Ghana lost a over GHS100 million through unethical behavior,” he declared.

“The unethical behaviours include failure to obtain alternative quotations, splitting of contracts to avoid competitive tender, store purchases not routed through stores, payments made without proof of delivery or utilization of goods and services, abandoned projects, delay in the execution of projects, shoddy constructional works, non-execution of works after payment of mobilization, un-recorded fuel and stores items. What is hurting to us as professionals is that these misbehaviors run through all the auditor’s reports we have come across,” the president added.

He continued that “the complexity within business and economic environment is a reality, and therefore demands a robust support from a well-structured and strategic procurement and supply chain to help grow our economy and businesses.”

“It is therefore professionally absurd not have a legislative instrument or structured system to monitor and regulate the practices and activities of the people or the professionals, who control over 70 percent of every government or corporate entities’ expenditure apart from personnel emoluments.”

“It’s therefore prudent to harness the power of procurement to save cost, create jobs, industrialize, grow the economy and also achieve value for money,” he said.