The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) says it is aiming for a 90 per cent reduction in procurement-related breaches across the public sector as it begins full implementation of the Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS).

According to the Authority, the electronic platform will cover all public institutions by the end of the year.

The PPA believes the system will help tackle long-standing irregularities in public procurement, improve transparency and significantly reduce corruption.

GHANEPS was launched in 2019 and went through a six-month pilot phase. It is designed to promote fairness and address procurement challenges in the country.

Speaking to journalists during a training session for staff of the Ministry of Defence in Accra, the Director of Policy, Planning and Research at the Authority, Clement Owusu-Fordjour, said the existing manual system has several weaknesses.

“As for GHANEPS, there are a lot of challenges that it has come to solve. For example, the manual one, we have a lot of challenges in terms of transparency, collusion, administrative costs, and human interface. So GHANEPS has come to clear all these things,” he said.

He assured the public that the electronic system would strengthen openness in procurement processes. “Now, we can assure you that, as for transparency, it's 100% assured. I want people to have confidence in the procurement system. GHANEPS is the way to go,” he stated.

Mr Owusu-Fordjour said reducing human interaction in procurement processes would help curb corrupt practices.

“It will eliminate all these corrupting issues that we are talking about because of the limitation of human interface,” he explained.

However, he acknowledged that the new system comes with its own challenges. These include internet connectivity and the need for capacity building, as many public sector workers are used to the manual system.

“Some of them may be internet connectivity, for example. And also, just as we are doing that, we have to build the capacity because it's a new one. People are used to the manual, and now we are telling them to go on GHANEPS electronic,” he said.

“For example, some of us who were born before computers, we have to train them to know how to use the system.”

When asked whether the system would make Ghana corruption-free, he can't guarantee that .

“As for corruption-free, I can't guarantee that because we only minimise it. We cannot eliminate corruption. But I think this would significantly reduce it by 90%,” he said