A Comparative Study of the Impact of the Ghanaian Public Procurement Processes before and after the Enactment in 2003- A Case Study of Accra Polytechnic

Abstract

In Ghana, a Public Procurement law was passed in 2003 as the Public Procurement Act 663. The enactment of the Public Procurement law was to ensure that Ghana’s public procurement practices were harmonized and streamlined to conform to International procurement best practices and standards. This study is a comparative analysis of the impact the Public Procurement practices before and after the enactment of the Public Procurement Act, Act 663 of 2003. More specifically, it seeks to analyze the extent to which the introduction of the Public Procurement law widened the competitiveness and transparency element of the public procurement process. A case study approach was adopted and Accra Polytechnic was used as the research unit. The researchers used questionnaires and interview schedule to gather data. The departments involved were the procurement unit, finance, internal audit, development, stores and estates. The findings revealed the impact from a broader public sector management perspective and also exhaustively focused narrowly and specifically on the impact of the Act on Accra Polytechnic procurement practices. The findings also indicated that prior to the enactment of the Public Procurement Law the procurement process was often shrouded in secrecy, lack of transparency, thereby limiting the competitive space. However, with the enactment of the Act and the subsequent creation of the regulatory body, Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to oversee and superintend over public sector procurement, there has been an improvement and enhancement of procurement entities responsiveness and competitiveness.

Key words: Competitiveness, transparency, value for money