Management consultant and procurement specialist Kobina Ata-Bedu has attributed persistent controversies over sole-sourcing in Ghana to failures in enforcing existing procurement laws.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (24 March), Ata-Bedu argued that the practice of awarding contracts without competitive bidding undermines the fundamental principles of the Public Procurement framework.
“Go back to the essence of the Act—it is to ensure value for money and efficiency,” he said, questioning the rationale behind handpicking contractors.
He warned that such practices often point to deeper governance concerns.
“In what means either there is nepotism or there is corruption—simple and plain,” he stated.
Ata-Bedu maintained that Ghana’s challenge is not the absence of laws but the failure to apply them effectively.
“Ghana doesn’t have a shortage of laws. We have very good laws, but we do not enforce them,” he said.
He called for stricter enforcement of provisions under the procurement law, particularly sanctions for breaches, arguing that consistent application would curb irregularities.
“If we start enforcing Section 90 of the Act, this nonsense will stop,” he added.
His remarks come amid heightened public scrutiny of procurement practices, following recent revelations about the scale of sole-sourced contracts in the roads sector.
