President John Mahama has assented to the Value for Money Office Bill, marking a major step in the government’s efforts to curb inflated public sector contracts and strengthen accountability in public spending.

Announcing the development after the bill was signed into law on Monday, 11 May, the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, described the move as a significant milestone in efforts to contain rising public expenditure linked to overinflated government contracts.

“Today is a good day. His Excellency, the President, this morning signed into law the Value for Money Office Bill.

“What we seek to do going into the future will be that we will set up the office, and all single-source procurements will have to go through the office for value for money,” he said.

Dr Forson explained that under the new law, all single-source procurement arrangements will be subjected to scrutiny by the proposed Value for Money Office to ensure the country obtains value for public funds spent.

According to him, responsibility for conducting value-for-money assessments previously rested with the Legal Division of the Ministry of Finance, which lacked the specialised expertise required for such evaluations.

He said the new legislation seeks to institutionalise the process through a dedicated office with the technical capacity to independently assess government contracts.

The establishment of the office fulfils one of President Mahama’s campaign promises aimed at improving transparency and efficiency in public financial management.

Dr Forson disclosed that the government is making arrangements to allocate the necessary resources to operationalise the office, appoint its leadership, and constitute a technical team to oversee the implementation of the law.

He added that the government expects the Value for Money Office to become fully operational by January 2027.

“I want to use this opportunity to assure the people of Ghana that the manner of public sector contracting and overinflation of contracts will be curtailed by this signature,” he stated.