An Evaluation of Militating Factors Against the Application of the Public Procurement Act 2003 Within the Volta River Authority (VRA): A Public Service Managers Perspective
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Date
2023
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KNUST
Abstract
The position of procurement has not received the recognition it deserves in emerging economies, with most competitive factors, such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO), International Trade Organization (ITO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD), and many more, paying insufficient attention to its application. This could be interpreted as a complete lack of understanding of the importance of procurement status to the development of any society. As a result of critically observing similar studies that had been conducted in relation to the issue under consideration, it was apparently definite that little had been done regarding the implementation of the Public Procurement Act, 2003, Act, 663, and the challenges public service managers face when applying the Act. As a result, there is a keen interest in assessing the issues confronting public service managers in the application of the public procurement Act 2003, Act 663 as amended Act 2016, Act 914 with the Volta River Authority (VRA) and analyzing the policies that can be championed to maximize procurement practices, primarily at the Volta River Authority, Ghana. The study selected a sample of 150 categories of procurement professionals at the VRA. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to procurement professionals at various stations of VRA in Ghana. A quantitative approach was adopted, and a structural equation model was applied to data analysis. The results of the study revealed that to a large extent, (1) procurement officials significantly have a positive attitude towards the application of the Act, 2003 (2) the Act, 2003 provides a relatively added advantage to public institutions for its application, (3) intentions towards the application of the Act, 2003 are shaped by the official’s position and experience. (4) Perceived behavioural control has a negative effect on the Act’s application. These results reinforce existing literature (Sait et al., 2004; Fishbein and Ajzen, 2005 Moon and Kim, 2001, Venkatesh and Davis 2000). Also, in terms of intention to apply the Act, the section of procurement managers who were considered for the study have a negative application attitude. It was therefore concluded that it is the responsibility of the public service's stakeholders to manage the difficulties as minimally as possible, even to the point of fully informing every stakeholder. This v would go a long way toward assisting the Ghanaian public service in maintaining responsiveness, familiarity with the Public Procurement Act, and usage or application of the Act appropriately. KEYWORDS: public procurement Act, procurement officials, perceived behavioural control, application attitude, mitigating factors.