Challenges in the application of Public Procurement Act (Act 663): Case Study procurement of works in Shama District

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2014-08-26
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In Ghana like other countries, procurement laws are instituted to ensure an efficient utilization of resources in the acquisition of goods, works and services. The formulation of the law and its successful implementation are two entirely different issues. The latter is very important as it leads to the realization of the aim of the first. Many a times there exists difficulties in implementation of laws. The study sought to investigate into the challenges which befall the successful implementation of the Public Procurement Act (Act 663) and consequently proffer solutions to address them. The Shama District in the western region was used as a case study. Procurement entities ranging from the Education (the secondary schools) sector, Health (the hospitals) sector and Energy (power generation) sector were integrated into one so as to bring the challenges in the various sectors into one bucket for discussion. Multiple research approaches including; review of relevant literature, interviews and questionnaire survey of 32 procurement personnel entities were use. SPSS (Statistical package for Social Scientist) version 16.0 was used to analyse the results. The results indicated that there exist challenges in the implementation of the Public procurement law in the district. The topmost challenges were Low capacity of procurement personnel; deliberate controlling of competition; splitting of contracts into smaller lots and Lack of funds. The study further revealed that these challenges were partly attributed to lack of frequent training and qualification of the officers in procurement as an academic discipline. This led to misinterpretation of some aspects of the procurement act. The study therefore concluded by recommending that frequent training and refresher course should be organized for procurement staff to build their capacity and efficiency. On the other hand where there is deliberate abuse of the procurement process by an officer, punitive measures should be applied accordingly. These will ensure that the country achieves efficiency, transparency and value for money in its procurement processes.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology, Kwame Nkrumahy University of Science and Technology In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science,
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