Adopt proactive measures to block procurement contracts leakages — Economist urges government

The Reverend Dr. Samuel Worlanyo Mensah, the Executive Director, Central for Greater Impact Africa has recommended to the government to immediately adopt proactive measures to block leakages in procurement contracts to accumulate revenue as part of the procedures to bail the country out of the current economic challenges.

Rev. Dr. Mensah speaking at the Ghana News Agency Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue platform emphasized, “If the government is asking the citizens to tighten up their seatbelts to help rescue the country, there should be a corresponding initiative from the state to check all the loopholes in the procurement system to encourage the citizens to voluntarily tighten the belt.

The event which was monitored by the Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) in Tema, Rev. Dr. Mensah stressed that “the nation can accumulate more money from identifying and blocking the loopholes within the procurement contracts, than relying on the electronic levy to develop the country.

“If the government wants to get more revenue, then we should be able to stop the leakages within the system,” he said.

The procurement process has been corrupted and resources for contracts are sometimes issued through doubtful procedures. Rev. Dr Mensah stated while speaking on the topic: “Probing the procurement of contracts: Blocking the leakages”.

He said: “The Center for Greater Impact Africa is entreating the government to strengthen the legal regime of the country to deal vigorously with people who misapply and mismanage state funds”.

Rev. Dr. Mensah while commending the government’s pledge to support the pharmaceutical industry, expressed concern that since the announcement nothing concrete has been done.

“I think it’s a nice strategic agenda for the state and I believe that if we can take all these processes and policies as stated in the budget then it’s going to be a nice platform to begin to have a good economy.

“But if at the end of the day, we leave it or it is only draft work that we have done and implementation becomes a challenge then it is going to be more of a curse than a blessing,” he said.

Dr. Mensah urged the government to be proactive in the handling of economic issues, stressing the government must develop pro-poor models as well as the ones that would bridge the gap between academia and industries.