Appointments Committee vets two ministers of state designate
The Minister of State designate for Procurement, Ms Sarah Adjoa Safo, has reiterated President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s declaration to safeguard the public purse by ensuring that sole sourcing and restrictive tender are used sparingly in the procurement process.
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She said the government was committed to ensuring transparency, fairness and value for money in the procurement processes through an open tender procedure to create equal opportunities for Ghanaians to win government contracts.
Ms Safo, who appeared before the Appointment’s Committee of Parliament yesterday, explained that sole sourcing could be applied as the last resort.
Answering questions from members of the committee as the first minister of state designate, she indicated her willingness to work to achieve the government’s aim of ensuring that 70 per cent of Ghanaians won government contracts and of the number, 30 per cent should be women and other vulnerable people, such as persons with disability and institutions established under the youth enterprise support.
No conflict
Asked whether her mandate as Minister in charge of Procurement would not conflict with that of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Ms Safo answered in the negative and explained that her job was strictly to advise the government on procurement issues which, in her opinion, had nothing to do with interfering with the functions of the PPA.
The nominee, who was the first legal advisor at the PPA, parried the suggestion that her decision to advocate for more women to win government contracts was unethical, since it could amount to a conflict of interest and indicated that allowing women to win government contracts was a move geared towards improving the business climate in the country.
Sanctions
Ms Safo, who is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School in Washington DC with a degree in Procurement Law, served the strongest notice that any state entity that would breach the Procurement Law would be severely punished.
She spoke about the fact that the government had decided to set a GH¢50 million sealing for any procurement by state agencies and any amount beyond that figure must be brought before Cabinet.
On the issue of promoting local participation in the procurement processes, Ms Safo said a World Bank Report had established that between 70 and 80 per cent of local revenue went down the drain through bad procurement practices in the country by some entities.
The minister designate, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome/Kwabenya, touched on the relevance of contract administration in the country, saying that it was relevant for the effective implementation of government contracts because contracts got signed and the absence of a contract administrator caused financial wastage as it involved renegotiating contracts which was expensive.
Minister of State
The next to appear before the committee was Mr Bryan Acheampong, a Minister of State designate, who was asked questions mostly bordering on cyber security and how to use information technology to facilitate the work of state agencies.
As an IT and security expert, Mr Acheampong said Ghana had major gaps in terms of security and told the committee that he had made some recommendations to the appropriate agencies on how to use security to counter cyber terrorism.
Mr Acheampong asked the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) to ensure that facilities were in place in government agencies and regular refresher training programmes organised for staff in a bid to embrace what he described as a project of change management approach.
When asked what his mandate as a minister of state was going to be, Mr Acheampong, who is also the MP for Abetifi, said he would receive directions from the President, if his nomination was approved.