Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has called for a complete rethink of Ghana’s public procurement framework, suggesting that the country could “do away with the whole PPA law” if public officials were properly held accountable for their decisions.

Speaking on Newfile on JoyNews on Saturday, 28 March, Mr Bentil made the remarks during a discussion on sole-sourcing under the government’s “Big Push” agenda.

He emphasised that the core issue is not the law itself, but the failure of leaders to take responsibility.

“Behind all this is the first principle of the ultimate responsibility, which is borne by the chief executive,” he said.

Mr Bentil explained that even where procurement processes are handled by technical teams, the final responsibility lies with the head of the institution. He illustrated his point with an example involving a sole authorised dealer.

“We are saying the chief executive has to do some procurement. Now, there is a sole authorised dealer for that particular item,” he said. “He goes through a whole tender process and selects somebody without consulting the authorised dealer.”

According to him, such a decision reflects either a lack of knowledge or poor judgment.

“If you bypass that person, either you are ignorant or incompetent… and then you end up picking something which is either not the best quality or not the best price… you should be sacked first,” he stated.

When asked whether his argument suggested that sole-sourcing should be abolished, Mr Bentil went further, questioning the need for the entire procurement law.

“I am by this stress saying we can do away with the whole PPA law,” he said.

He argued that Ghana already has a robust governance structure comprising the President, ministers, and multiple public institutions staffed with experts, who should be capable of making sound decisions without relying heavily on layers of legislation.

“These are people we have tasked, and there are enough resources around them to make good decisions. They are not making those decisions, and we are not holding them to account,” he said.

Mr Bentil also criticised what he described as an excessive concentration of oversight institutions under the Minister of Finance. He listed several frameworks and bodies, including the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), the Value for Money (VFM) structures, and the Public Financial Management Act, all operating within the same ministry.

“We have packed serious layers of these institutions under one man… Without all of these, he should be able to do his job or be sacked,” he said.

He added that even with these systems in place, public officials still fail to follow proper procedures.

“Giving all of these, he doesn’t do his job. We give him the Public Procurement Act. He goes and uses the wrong one, and then he comes and complains,” he said.

Mr Bentil stressed that Ghana’s governance challenges would persist unless there is a firm commitment to enforcing accountability at the highest levels.

“When we miss the principle of ultimate responsibility, we never solve the problem,” he said.

He called for stronger parliamentary oversight, suggesting that ministers who consistently underperform should face consequences.

“We should start letting the chief executives, the ministers, and the people who are responsible pay the price for not doing the work. And here, censure comes in,” he said, adding, “If a minister is consistently failing, Parliament has a role.”