The Deputy CEO of the Public Procurement Authority, Ghana (PPA), Kwame Prempeh has hinted that very soon Suppliers, Consultants, Contractors and all other procurement entities which have not enrolled onto the Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS), cannot do business with the Government and for that matter, face challenges in the line of their operations.

They therefore cannot be assured of payment after delivering those services.

Mr. Prempeh made this statement when he was delivering an evening lecture on the Overview of the Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS) for members of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) on Thursday, 10th August, 2023 at the Engineers Centre, Roman Ridge, Accra.

According to the Deputy CEO of PPA, with the introduction of GHANEPS, procurement process has become paperless and there would be no need for the traditional printouts of tender documents.

The GHANEPS is an integrated system that provides one stop shop solution for procurement entities, improves transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, Seamless system and helps to monitor all contracts awarded to entities for tax benefits to the government.

He explained that since GHANEPS Roll-Out period from 2019 – 2023, over 660 procurement entities has been trained and enrolled on GHANEPS. The PPA has a roll-out plan to train and enroll 15 entities onto GHANEPS per month. Roll-out is generally done on regional basis with all Public Procurement Entities (PPE) in a region are taken through the roll-out process in a period of approximately three months. Multiple roll-outs are conducted for regions where the number of Entities are in excess of 50. So far, Greater Accra has seen the most roll-outs.

Mr. Prempeh added with the linking of Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) with the GHANAPS platform, procurement entities stand a big chance that their money would be paid on time by government after delivery of the goods/service provided. This will limit the amount of contracts given without approval, which creates a lot of arrears for the government.

The President of Ghana Institution of Engineering, Ing. Kwabena Bempong, speaking to the media at the PPA evening lecture said, when it comes to Procurement in general, the underlining word is fairness, value for money and to ensure that there is transparency.

"When these things are missing, then the integrity of the procurement process becomes questionable. So, with the introduction of GHANEPS in the Procurement processes, the human element is taken out, so the issue of people trying to block the system or take advantage of the system is taken out", he added.

Present at the PPA evening lecture included: Ing. Leslie Alex Aryeh, Past President of GhIE; Ing. David Kwatia Nyante – Executive Director of GhIE; some Council members of GhIE, Engineers. It was moderated by Ing. Joyce Asante, an Electrical/Electronic Engineer by profession.