Challenges facing procurement unit of Electricity Company of Ghana at the pre- contract stage under the Public Procurement ACT 2003 (ACT 663)
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Date
2015-04-09
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Abstract
The procurement process has become increasingly more complex, particularly with
recent demands for more transparency, accountability and budget constraints. The object
of procurement of works cannot be achieved properly if at the pre -contract stage one is
unable to properly define, schedule and understand the proposed construction as a result
of non-compliance with legal framework. The aim of the study was to identify the
challenges with procurement of works at pre-contract stage under the Public
Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663). Hence the specific objectives were to establish the
level of compliance of pre -contract stage activities with the Public Pr ocurement and the
implementation challenges as per the Act 663 by Electricity Company of Ghana. The
scope of the study focused on the Premises/Estates Directorate of the Electricity
Company of Ghana. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain data for this study.
The study revealed that several pre-contract stages activities in the Public Procurement
Act are being complied by the Electricity Company of Ghana. More so, the study
confirmed that the Directorate’s procurement activities are faced with challe nges such as
illiteracy and inadequate contract management skills among some contractors; the need
to cancel tendering and seek offers again; lack of sanctions to public officials for poor
performance; shortage of experience professional staff; lack of knowledge of legal
framework; delays in establishing full time operational procurement units with the full
complement of staff; difficulty in obtaining bid security; low bid prices offered by
bidders due to award of contract to the lowest evaluated bidder; lack of career
development path been established for procurement in the civil service inconsistencies
in tender evaluation; delay in payment of works executed by contractors; lack of
incentives to follow proper procurement procedures. In pursuit to mitigate the
challenges faced by the Directorate, the study recommends among others: sourcing of
procurement experts to train and educate staffs, stiffer punishment to flouters and non -adhering entities to the Public Procurement Act, incentive such as tax rebate t o increase
the appetite of companies in adhering or complying with the Public Procurement Act,
663, provision of adequate and prompt funding for procurement activities by all
stakeholders including companies and government.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Department of Building
Technology, in partial fulfilment of the requirement of
the Master of Science degree in Procurement Management