Impact of public procurement ACT, 2003 (ACT 663) on public procurment practice in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

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Date
2014
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Abstract
The Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) was introduced in Ghana to streamline the anomalies in public procurement. The objective of the law is to ensure cost effectiveness and efficiency and promote fairness, transparency and ensure that public procurement is non-discriminatory. The implementation of Act 663 has been quite challenging. The reactions to Act 663 from key stakeholders since its enactment about a decade ago have been both positive and negative. Some view it as a universal remedy to the numerous problems that bedevil public procurement in Ghana. On the other hand, others see it as an instrument that over rely on competition and is therefore inadequate and lack the needed strength to curb the various moral concerns that characterize public procurement practice. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the Public Procurement Act after exactly a decade of its enforcement in order to establish the extent to which the objectives of the law have been achieved. Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KTH) was selected as a case study. The research relied on both primary and secondary data. Structured questionnaire and face-to-face interviews were used to obtain data for this study. The targeted population was 72 procurement staff of KTH which included the 3top executives, 12 middle level personnel and 57 junior level staff. A sample size of 60 was chosen with the purposive and quota sampling technique and with the aid of a published table. The findings show that some benefits achieved from using Act 663 include reduction in rework, transparency, accountability, and non-discrimination all of which work together to reduce corruption and save some cost. The findings revealed that giving the checks and balances provided by the Act there is achievement of value for money. Also, it can be affirmed that with Act 663, there is uniformity in performing procurement activities, economic and efficient use of state resources and also greater efficiency in the procurement process at the KTH. The study confirmed that Act 663 is offering some solutions but there exist some challenges such as lack of usage flexibility, the lack of independent procurement, difficulties in applying and implementing the Act due to political interference and uncooperative cultural attitudes to change, lack of proper record keeping and auditing function, and too small threshold for entities like KTH. In conclusion, the Act has been largely beneficial and effective. However, it needs to be amended to include provisions for electronic procurement and sustainable procurement issues. This will improve transparency, accountability, and compliance respectively, as well as ensure sustainable best practice in our public procurement system. The thresholds contained in the Act needs to be increased. Some level of decentralization of the procurement system is also necessary to ensure swift procurement. These concerns in fact call for an amendment to the current Act.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science degree in Procurement Management
Keywords
Public Procurement Act, Public Procurement, Procurement Law
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