The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA), yesterday, out-doored a ten-member Entity Tender Committee (ETC).
The members are to ensure that due processes in the procurement of goods and services in the Ministry are duly followed.
The Committee is made of up a Chairman, a Secretary and eight others described as Members.
The sector Minister, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, will serve as the Chair, while Mr. Francis T. Boateng, Senior Manager in charge of Procurement and Supply Chain at the Ministry, will serve as the Secretary.
The remaining eight, made up of five gentlemen and three females, are the Chief Director of the MoPA, Mr. Evans Aggrey-Darko, Mr. Kwame Oppong-Ntim, Mr. Emmanuel Osei Owusu, Dr. Ebenezer Esilfie Baiden, Ing. Albert L. Ashong- Lamptey, Madam Gifty Joyce Oteng Bosomprah, Madam Justina Bediako, and Madam Heidi-Marie Boakye.
Addressing the media at a brief swearing in ceremony held at the Ministry in Accra, the Chairman noted that having such a committee in the Ministry or any Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was very key, because government spends a chunk of its money on procurement.
He revealed that aside debt servicing and emoluments, the government spends about 75-77% of its budget on the procurement of goods and services, and so it was important to have such a committee to ensure value for money.
“It has become important that we have this structure within the setup of all the MDAs, because the nation spends quite a lot on procurement.
“…In any budget, if you take out statutory payments, including amount set aside for debt servicing or the payment of emoluments, the outstanding amount, the nation, on yearly basis, spends between 75 and 77%Â on procurement which is why we should get it right.”
He said the absence of a procurement team in government organisations would mean that monies meant for developmental projects would be diverted into individual pockets.
“If we don’t get it right, the nation will not have value for money, and a lot of monies allocated for public goods will end up lying in the pockets of individuals, and the nation will not have value for the expenditures we incur day in, day out.”
Aside that, the Minister also noted that the Ministry, in setting up the committee, was also going by the laws of Ghana, because the law mandates MDAs to have entity tender committees in their respective organisations.
“We are submitting to the law, and the law provides that within the Ministry we have an ETC.”
He reposed confidence in the committee, and hoped that due processes would be followed anytime the Ministry wanted to engage in any procurement activity.
“We hope that with the ushering in of this ETC for the Ministry, the right things will be done and due process, as established by law, will be followed through, so that we will have, as a Ministry and as Nation, value for money.”
