The National Procurement Authority (NPA) has introduced a new concept for Senior High Schools to ensure uniformity in the purchase of common user goods. The concept to be known as ‘framework agreement’ would maximize money value for government because it is not getting value for monies spent on goods and services in Ghana. Mr Agyenim-Boateng Agyei, Chief Executive Officer of NPA, disclosed this at a day’s seminar for Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in Koforidua. The concept when it becomes operational would operate on cluster bases where school entities in the same community would aggregate and collate their needs to facilitate procurement on common goods at uniform prices. Mr Agyei said most ministries, institutions and agencies were grappling with the implementation of the new procurement act therefore the seminar was organised to educate members of CHASS on the new concept and the procurement law. On the implementation of the procurement laws, he said the Legislative Instrument (LI) made it mandatory for institutions to establish procurement units and employ the services of procurement officers. Mr Agyei announced that government would sponsor students in the polytechnics to pursue procurement programmes to serve as interns for the units and later be employed by the institutions. During an open forum, the participants accepted the concept and observed that the procedure for procurement under the law was cumbersome and suggested that government employed procurement officers for the schools to assist in its implementation. Source: GNA