MPs must actively participate in procurement processes

Koforidua
(E / R), July 15, GNA – Mr. Joseph Osei-Owusu, First Vice President, said:
encouraged MPs to show a keen interest in public relations
procurement process at the local level to strengthen legislative oversight.

The deputies, he says
were to sit on the Metropolitan Group's Entity Contracting Committees (ETC),
Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA) to guide them on the right.

He talked
at the opening of a two-day workshop for the leaders of Parliament and
selected parliamentary committees in Koforidua.

The program
organized by the Ministry of Public Procurement and focused on the activities of parliament
role in protecting public money.

"Improve
Parliamentary control through public procurement ", was the theme chosen for
l & # 39; workshop.

Mr. Osei-Owusu
reminded MPs to ensure that they fulfilled the roles badigned to them by the law
more effectively and stated that their role should not be limited to what was
brought to them in the house.

He identified
the biggest challenge facing the country's public procurement practices.
problem of dishonesty – the lack of integrity.

"As a people, we
should be bold and admit that we are dishonest, we do not like to follow
rules."

He said that it was
time everyone recognized that things had changed and that people would be
be more open and accountable to the public.

"Particularly,
for those of us in the public sector we have to understand that the days we
the shared information that we wanted the public to know is over.

"People would be
find the information wherever it is, they would give the interpretation that
they want, "he added.

Ms. Sarah Adwoa
Sarfo, Minister of State for Public Procurement, stated that his objective was to
parliament's ability to use its oversight role to fight corruption
in the field of public procurement.

The piece of
government resources – about 50 to 70 percent of government spending, is going to
in public markets.

L & # 39; s workshop
she noted, had come at a convenient time to strengthen oversight functions
Parliament, to supervise the work of the executive, to take cognizance of the loan and
ensure the efficiency of public procurement.

She emphasized
the importance of the tender committees of the entities, claiming that they were aimed at
to ensure that public procurement laws are respected to prevent corruption,
collusion and fraud.

The Minister
called for collaboration between his department, the Attorney General
Department and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to ensure that
recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee, report of the Auditor General
and convictions against people who clearly broke the law were punished.

Mr Haruna
Iddrisu, the leader of the minority, referred to a report from the World Bank, he said.
showed that the adoption of the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Law 663) had not
contributed significantly to the reduction of corruption in Ghana.

He said there
was therefore necessary to do more in terms of reforms, adding that,
the parliament was responsible for the exercise of its oversight to help safeguard
the public treasury.

GNA