The Consequences of Public Procurement and Its Associated Irregularities in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana spends a large number of its public resources on the acquisition of goods, works and services with most of them being sourced through Public Procurement. The country in its quest to ensure transparency and efficiency in its public transaction established the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and clothed it with powers by an Act of Parliament to discharge the given responsibilities. However, since 2003 when the 4th Republican rule was instituted, not a single government regime has exited from office without recourse to irregularities associated with the procurement processes as reported by the Auditor General’s Annual Reports or reports by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). The goal of this paper is to look at the consequences of these irregularities in the procurement process posed to Ghana’s development. The methodology used in carrying out this study centred mainly on secondary data, and some recommendations have been offered for consideration.