Compliance and Implementation Challenges of the Public Procurement Act 663 (2003) In District Education Offices: A Case Study of Ashanti Region

The Public Procurement Act 663(2003) was enacted to instill efficiency in the public procurement management for Value for Money( VfM ). However, since its enactment in 2003, its implementation has been fraught with a lot of challenges especially in the procurement management process. District education offices which are the decentralized units of pre-tertiary education delivery are bedeviled with poor procurement management practices. The aim of the study was to ascertain the extent to which these district education offices in Ashanti Region adhere to the Public Procurement Act 663 of 2003 and to offer interventions to improve upon the situation. The specific objectives were to identify the compliance level of the Act by the education offices , identify the strengths & weaknesses identify capacity gaps and propose recommendations . Ashanti region was selected as a case study where five district education offices namely Asante Akim Central, Ejisu-Juaben, Asante Akim South, Bosome –Freho and Sekyere East Districts were selected. These districts were selected with due consideration to Urban, Peri-Urban and Rural Geographical educational settings of Ashanti Region . Using Purposive non-probability sampling method, the procurement committees of the 5 selected districts were targeted with a structured questionnaire. In all, 20 respondents made up of District directors of education, Budget officers, Finance & Administration officers and District Education Accountants from the 5 selected District education offices, who constituted the procurement committees, responded to the questionnaire. This constitutes 100% response rate. The data was analysed using a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods. On the basis of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/ World Bank four compliance areas, the study highlighted the following findings: the mean compliance level of the five selected District education offices in Ashanti region is 212.1 out of a total standard score of 480. This translates as 42.42 percent. The implication is that there is a huge compliance deficit of 57.58 percent. The study scientifically concludes that there is low compliance level of the Public Procurement Act 663 by the district education offices. This amply confirms the existing literature that there is low compliance level to the Public procurement Act 663 of 2003 in Public institutions. Contract management was revealed as the weakest compliance area whiles Procurement process was the strongest compliance area. Though the districts exhibited some strengths in some areas of the Act 663 such as the use of Request for Quotation Method (RFQ), Preparation of Cash budget to precede procurement and Notification of winners of contract, the capacity gaps constitute major challenges to the implementation of the Act 663 at the district education offices : Lack of procurement Unit, Lack of professional procurement officers, Inadequate procurement training programmes for the education officers, Lack of contract management techniques ,Inadequate procurement Manuals and Acts at the offices for reference, High propensity to use the Sole Sourcing method without recourse to the laid down conditions as specified by section 40 of the Act 663 of 2003. This is a clear confirmation to the literature review that there is high inclination by the public Procurement Entities to use the sole sourcing method. These challenges, among others, are ample affirmation to the existing literature that there is low compliance level of the Public Procurement Act and further affirm the lamentation by Ministry of Education that 71 percent of district education offices have problems with Procurement management. It is therefore recommended, among others, that a vigorous capacity training programme be organized for all Regional and District Directors of Education in Public Procurement Management skills. As a matter of urgency, Procurement Units should be created in all the district education offices in Ghana. These units, manned by professional procurement officers, would give technical expertise in procurement management at the district level. It is further recommended that Quantity Surveyors be attached to each of the District Education Offices for technical expertise on contract management especially in works procurement. It is envisaged that if these recommendations are implemented, the identified weaknesses would be surmounted for the ultimate improvement of the current low compliance level of the Public Procurement Act 663 of 2003.

Source: KNUST