Our Regulator for today is the Public Procurement Authority (“PPA”). PPA is governed by the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) as amended (the “Act”) and it is responsible for regulating public procurement in Ghana.
The institutions that are regulated by the PPA for the purpose of procurement are as follows:
Private Companies who wish to provide a service to the public sector;
- Central management agencies (such as Public Services Commission, Office of the President and Office of the Head of Civil Service) ;
- Government ministries, departments and agencies;
- Subvented agencies ( i.e agencies financed from public funds);
- Governance institutions;
- State owned enterprises to the extent that they utilise public funds;
- Public universities, public schools, colleges and hospitals;
- The Bank of Ghana and financial institutions (such as public trusts, pension funds, insurance companies and building societies which are wholly owned by the State or in which the State has majority interest); and
- Institutions established by the Government for the general welfare of the public or community.
The PPA is mandated by the Act to regulate the procurement of goods, works and services, the preparation, selection and award of public contracts and the disposal of public stores and equipment by the above institutions in order to ensure that these processes are done in a manner that is fair, transparent and non-discriminatory.
All Public Procurement entities are required to adhere to the rules and guidelines of the PPA and failure to do so is an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than five year or a fine of at most GHS 12,000 or both.
