Ghana is reported to have lost a whopping amount of US$2billion over the last six years (from 2010 – 2016) on contracts awarded on either sole sourcing or restrictive tender basis.
In a latest of findings by the Danquah Institute (DI), the West African country have saved an estimated 65% (US$1.924billion) on sole-sourced or restrictive tender contracts valued at US$2.96billion during the period.
The findings revealed that a contract for the supply of 3,000 cartons of A.T. pesticide at GH₵516.00 per carton (total cost GH₵15,480,000.00) could have saved the country GH₵10,980,000.00 if the contract had gone through competitive tender process and the product procured at GH₵150.00 per carton (total cost GH₵4,500,000.00).
“Our checks show that this could have been competitively done at GH₵150.00 a carton instead of the GH₵516.00 ABP is being paid through sole sourcing. This means that our farmers could have received three and a half times more pesticides if the procurement was subjected to competitive tender,” said the Executive Director of DI, Nana Attobrah Quaicoe in a statement released on Tuesday, November 22, 2016.
Another contract which was awarded by the Ghana Cocoa Board to the value of GH₵134,000,000.00 in April 2016 for the procurement of 64,000 bales of jute bags, according to the DI findings, could have saved Ghana GH₵102,000,000.00, an amount which could have been used to procure additional bales of jute bags.
In the view of DI, a bale of jute bags could have been competitively procured at GH₵500.00 if the deal had gone through competitive tender process instead of the sole-source where the product was sold at GH₵2,093.00 per bale of jute bags.
“There is absolutely no justification for this, especially, where the procurement of jute bags does not require any specialist skill or knowledge once the relevant specifications have been provided,” noted the DI Executive Director in his statement.
Additionally, the award of five separate contracts totaling GH₵222,305,115.00 in March 2016 by the Ministry of Power for the supply of LED street lights in Accra and Kumasi and other lightening accessories could have saved the state about half of the contract sum if the deal had gone through competitive tender process.
“Indeed at a meeting on the 22nd of June 2016, the Board of Public Procurement Authority noted with concern the use of the single or sole source method for the provision of certain services or supply of certain goods including the LED lights, conductors and accessories for street lightning. Yet, sole sourcing continues to be the order of the day. The NDC government’s attitude towards procurement only seeks to encourage collusive arrangements and excludes citizen participation and participation by private entities from the procurement process.”
The findings in part further revealed that in May 2013, the Ministry of Water Resource, Works & Housing awarded a contract to Amandi Holdings Limited and approved by the Board of Public Procurement Authority, worth $39,900,000.00 under the Sakumono Sea Defence project.
“Sea erosion does not occur suddenly. It is a gradual process which takes place over a long period of time. When it became necessary for a sea defence to be constructed, the state could comfortably have undertaken a competitive bidding to select a potential contractor for the project. It is absurd for the Public Procurement Authority to approve a construction of this magnitude under a certificate of urgency. There is no information to indicate or confirm that value for money assessments were undertaken before awarding the contract. This is recklessness on the part of the government and the people deserve an explanation,” the findings revealed.
The above mentioned contracts together with others that were awarded under sole-source or restrictive contracts, according to the findings, indicate a blatant and total disregard to the plight of Ghanaians and the state’s failure to recognize the importance of value for money, the need to protect the public purse and the integrity of the tax system.
“Majority of the contracts awarded and approved by the Board of Public Procurement Authority in 2016 alone was done on a sole sourcing basis, with the rest being awarded on a restricted tendering basis and the justification for the government’s decision is not apparent. The contention is that the choice of awarding contracts on a sole sourcing basis cannot be justified.
The value of the contracts awarded for various projects during the past eight years by the NDC government, according to DI, have been excessive to put it mildly without much tangible evidence of what these funds were used for.
