Report No. 40676-GH Ghana 2007 External Review of Public Financial Management (In Two Volumes) Volume II: Public Procurement Assessment Report June 2008 PREM 4 and AFTPC Africa Region Document of the World Bank Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. IV INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 1 COUNTRY CONTEXT . ................................................................................................................... 2 OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................................................... 2 NATURE SCOPEOFPUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND .................................................................................. 2 ROLEOF THENATIONAL SUB-NATIONAL AND GOVERNMENT ................................................................... .......................................................... 3 LINKS WITH BUDGETARY CONTROLMECHANISMS AND 3 PROCUREMENTSYSTEMAND ITSLINKS WITH THE REST OF PUBLIC SECTOR .................................... 4 4 2 DEVELOPMENTSSINCE CPAR OF 2003 . PROCUREMENTSYSTEM -KEYSTRUCTURESANDROLES............................................................ .................................................................................. 6 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. LEGAL INSTITUTIONALFRAMEWO........................................................................................ 6 AND RK 7 GOODPROCUREMENTPROCEDURESAND PRACTICES ....................................................................... 8 PROCUREMENT PROFICIENCY .......................................................................................................... 10 INDEPENDENTOVERSIGHT.AUDITS.AND RECOURSE ..................................................................... 11 FIGHTCOSTLYCORRUPTION ........................................................................................................... 12 3 INDEPENDENTREVIEW OF THE! GOVERNMENT'S SELF-ASSESSMENT . OTHERIMPORTANT AREAS .............................................................................................................. 13 ...................13 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 13 THEGOVERNMENT'S SELF-ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................... 14 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 14 INTRODUCTIONTO THE INDICATORSYSTEM INTHE PPMETOOL EVALUATIONOFTHEGOVERNMENT'S SELF-ASSESSMENT REVIEW OF METHODOLOGY. COVERAGE. SAMPLING. RELEVANCEAND RELIABILITYOF DATA ....................................................................16 .................................................... 15 17 ANALYSISOF THEGOVERNMENT'S FINDINGS ................................................................................. 20 4 FINDINGS OF PUBLICPROCUREMENTASSESSMENT . .................................................... 22 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 22 OVERALLASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................... 23 LEGISLATIVE REGULATORYFRAMEWORK AND (PILLAR I) ............................................................. 24 INSTITUTIONALFRAMEWORK MANAGEMENT AND CAPACITY (PILLAR 11) ..................................... 30 PROCUREMENTOPERATIONAND MARKET PRACTICE (PILLAR 111) .................................................. 37 5 OUTSTANDINGCHALLENGES . ................................................................................................ 56 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 56 6 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS . CHALLENGES ................................................................................................................................... 57 ...................................................................................................... 62 QUICK WINS 62 MEDIUM TERMACTIONS................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................... 65 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ 66 .. 11 ListofTables Table 1.1: Scope o f Public Expenditure................................................................................................. 3 Table 3.1: Example 1 - Performance Measurement Indicator (PMI) No 1......................................... . .............................................................. 18 Table 4.2: Summary o f BLIs in Institutional Framework and ManagemCapacity (Pillar 11) .............25 Table 4.1: Summary o f BLIs in Legislative and Regulatory Framework (Pillar I).............................. Table 3.2: Performance Measurement Indicator (PMI) No. 6 19 Table 4.3: Summary o f BLI's inProcurement Operations and Market Practices (Pillar I1I)...............40 32 Table 4.4: Summary of BLI's inIntegrity and Transparency (Pillar IV) Table 6.1: ProposedKey Recommendations.,...................................................................................... ............................................. 47 67 List of Figures ........................................ Figure 4.1: Ghana's Public Procurement System. Scores aggregated by Pillar.................................... Figure 3.1: Comparisono f Baseline Indicators. BIS and Joint Assessment 21 Figure 5.1: Ghana's Public Procurement System. score aggregated by Indicator ................................ 23 56 Listof Annexes Annex 1: Summary o f Baseline Scores ................................................................................................ 68 Annex 3: Questionnaire for Interview o f Procurement Entities., ......................................................... Annex 2: Implementation Status o f CPAR Recommendations............................................................ 70 71 Annex 4: Linkage Between KPCS And Baseline Indicators................................................................ 74 Annex 5: PPA Evaluation Grid for Assessment o f Procurement Entities ............................................ Annex 6: Review o f Contract Sheet ..................................................................................................... 76 82 Annex 7: List o f Persons Met 85 Annex 8: Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................... Annex 9: InternetResources ................................................................................................................ 88 92 iii EXECUTIVESUMMARY Introduction 1. In 2003, the OEDCDAC and the World Bank established the Roundtable on Strengthening Procurement Capacities in Developing Countries with the aim to create better tools and techniques to strengthen procurement in developing countries. In 2005, the Joint Venture for Procurement was set up with a mandate to fulfill the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and its commitments to: strengthen national procurement systems; support capacity development; anduse local country systems. 2. Ghana has been actively involved in the Roundtable and has developed a methodology for assessment o f compliance and performance o f procurement entities, referred to as the Public Procurement Model o f Excellence (PPME). The tool was piloted in 2005 and a large scale assessment o fmore than 200 entities was carried out in2006. 3. For 2007, the expenditures for public procurement in Ghana are estimated at 17 percent o f GDP and around 80 percent o f tax revenue.' Due to the important role public procurement plays, there i s a strong link between the efficiency o f the national procurement system, its impact on Public Financial Management as a whole and the achievement o f development goals stated in the GPRS 11. 4. The overall goal o f this Public Procurement assessment, conducted as part o f the 2007 External Review o f Public Financial Management (ERPFM) that annually takes place in the context o f the Multi-Donor Budget Support framework, is to support the Government's reforms to increase the value for money (VFM). The combined results o f the independent review o f the Government's self-assessment o f compliance and performance o f its procurement entities, using the PPME tool, and o f the joint assessment o f the formal and functional features o f the existing public procurement system, based on the OECDDAC methodology are used in this report to establish a baseline against which future progress inthe quality and performance o f the country's public procurement system can be measured. 5. The findings o f the assessment, the outstanding challenges and key recommendations are summarized as follows: Developmentssince CPAR2003 6. The Country Procurement Assessment Review (CPAR) undertaken by the Bank in2003 recommended actions to improve the public procurement system focused on all aspects o f the system including the legal and institutional framework, procurement procedures, proficiency, oversight mechanisms and anti-corruption measures. Overall, substantial progress has been achieved since 2003 in strengtheningpublic procurement. Highlights include: i)enactment o f the Public Procurement Law (Act 663 given assent on 31 December 2003); ii)establishment o f the Public Procurement Authority (PPA); iii)development o f standard bidding documents and 'Volume 11, Chapter 1. iv request for proposals; iv) establishment o f an appeals and complaints panel; v) the development o f a software package for procurement planning; vi) the development o f core short-term training modules for public officials, the private sector and national oversight bodies; and vii) development o f the PPME tool to collect and assess data on compliance and performance. A detailed account o f implementation o f actions recommended by the CPAR i s presented in Chapter 2 ofthis Volume. 7. A number o fother areas identified inthe CPAR arebeing addressedbythe Strategic Plan 2007 - 2009 o f the Public Procurement Board. Among others, these areas comprise mainstreaming o f the procurement planning and budgeting process, training o f public sector entities and other stakeholders to undertake public procurement in accordance with the provisions o f Act 663 andestablishing a career path for procurement inthe public sector. IndependentReview of the Government's Self-Assessment 8. The Government's objective in conducting the 2006 self-assessment o f public procurement was to obtain a countrywide view interms o f performance and compliance with the provisions o f the Public Procurement Act (Act 663). The entities coveredby the assessment were selected to achieve a nationwide overview and to cover six main categories o f spenders including state-owned enterprises, central Government institutions, and local Government entities. 9. To conduct the self-assessment, the Public Procurement Model o f Excellence (PPME) tool was used. For each entity, an individual assessment report was prepared. On this basis, three consolidated reports are generated to reflect the status o f the procurement system at the national level: (i)the Performance Assessment System (PAS) Report groups the results o f a number o f qualitative Key Performance Criteria (KPC) into the areas o f Management Systems, Information & Communication, Procurement Process and Contract Management; (ii)the Performance Measurement Indicator (PMI) Report presents quantitative data for 16 performance indicators; and (iii) Baseline Indicator System (BIS) Report is only produced at the national level by the linking the KPC's o f the PAS with the OECD Baseline Indicators. The findings o f the government self-assessment are reported in the Nationwide Procurement Assessment Report 2006 issued inMarch2007. 10. The development and implementation o f the PPME tool i s a remarkable achievement and highlights the government's commitment to monitor the implementation o f its procurement law. Additionally, it contributed to dissemination o f the new legislation and to raise management's awareness o fthe operational challenges involved. 11. The country's self-assessment was reviewed by the ERPFM team to validate the usefulness o f the PPME tool to monitor public procurement practices at the entity level. The key findings o fthe review are the following: 0 Overall, the PPME tool offers a good platform for tracking compliance and performance o fpublic procurement systems. 0 The findings o f the PAS Report 2006 are credible given the information received from other sources such as interviews with procurement entities, and the private sector and considering the publicly accessible website o f PPA. V To further strengthenthe PAS qualitative assessments, the PPA has already identified the need to refine some Key Performance Criteria (KPC's) which proved to be difficult to apply and at the same time were considered not to be relevant. With a view to better align PAS results and the OECDDAC Baseline system to deliver a unique range o f qualitative compliance and performance data, the average rating o f each KPC could be disclosed and linkage to the OECDDAC Baseline indicators improved particularly with regard to the Compliance and Performance Indicators (CPI). To ensure a reliable and representative database for quantitative assessments, the Performance Measurement Indicator (PMI) Report would benefit from considering the following actions: (i) improve sampling o f contracts which should cover goods, works and services; (ii) adjust some formulae to be consistent with their stated objective; and (iii)strengthen the key role o f quality control. Due to these shortcomings, the validity o f the findings o f the P M I report and consequently the possibility to extrapolate its findings on performance i s limited; 0 To further improve the robustness o f the PAS and PMIreports, it would be important to add to the entity selection criteria another dimension to ensure that the sample i s representative with regard to the annual value o fprocurement operations. 0 After review o f the BIS report, both the PPA and the team have concluded that the operational relevance o f this report could not be clearly identified and therefore would be discontinued. 12. For the comprehensive independent evaluation o f the Government's self-assessment, refer to Chapter 3. JointAssessment of PublicProcurementusingthe OEDCDAC BaselineIndicators 13. The objective o f the joint assessment using the OECDDAC "Methodology for Assessment o f National Procurement Systems" was to evaluate the quality o f the functional and formal features o f the current system with a view to establishing a baseline against which future progress can be measured. The OECDDAC methodology targets four pillars (Pillar I - Legislative and Regulatory Framework, Pillar I1 - Institutional Framework and Management Capacity, Pillar 111 - Procurement Operations and Market Practices, Pillar IV- Integrity and Transparency o f the Public Procurement System) organized around 12 indicators and 54 sub- indicators. The sub-indicators were scored using a 0 to 3 scale inwhich: i)score 3 indicates full achievement with the stated standard and score 0 indicates failure to comply with the proposed standard. The scores achieved at the sub-indicator level were aggregated to the indicator and pillar level by applying simple average calculation. 14. Whilst the majority o f the scores were agreed by the joint team, there were some dimensions where agreement was not reached. These have been noted in Chapter 4 o f this Volume 11, which provides the detailed assessment o f each o f the 54 sub-indicators covered by the OECDDAC Baseline Indicators. vi 15. Overall, the joint assessment concluded that the quality o f the Ghanaian public procurement system i s above average.2 As illustrated by Figure 1 (below) the strongest component o f the country's procurement system i s the robust legislative and regulatory framework (Pillar I) which is well within the norms with an average score o f 2.3. All other Pillars reach an average score o f 1.8. Figure 1: Ghana's PublicProcurementSystem Score Aggregatedby Pillar - Legislative Framework 0.5 Integrity& Transparenc "t\ t Capacity Operations and Markets 16. The above "big picture" conclusions are based on a detailed joint assessment o f the OECDDAC set o f sub-indicators, with scores aggregated to the indicator and pillar level by applying simple average calculation. At the sub-indicator level, the assessment shows that about 30 percent o f the 54 scores fully achieve (score 3) the OECD/DAC standards and another 41 percent less than fully achieve (score 2) those standards. Additionally, about seven percent o f the sub-indicators (four intotal) fail to meet the standard(score 0). 17. As illustrated by Figure 2 below, at the indicator level challenges to meet the OECD/DAC standards remain in the areas o f further linking procurement with public financial management, enhancing the institutional development capacity, improving the efficiency of procurement operations and operational practices, addressing procurement-related issues in control and audit systems and makingoperational the appeals mechanisms. 18. Chapter 4 presents a detailed narrative report and all scores achieved at the sub-indicators level based on the evidence made available. 'Taking average as 1.5, the mid-point o f the OECDDAC scale. vii Figure2: Ghana'spublicprocurementsystem, score aggregatedby indicator OutstandingChallenges 19. Based on the independent review o f the self-assessment, the findings o f the joint assessment and consultations with various stakeholders, challenges have been identified that PPA will need to face inorder to strengthen operations and framework for public procurement in Ghana. 20. For monitoring performance and compliance, it has been noted that the Government should be commended for its vision to develop and pilot the tool. It has a high potential to deliver robust and well-aligned compliance and performance data for the OECDDAC Baseline indicator system. To further increase the value o f the tool, a number o f strategic challenges remain and some technical features o f the tool need refinement. 21. In terms of challenges related to the national procurement system (as defined by the OECD methodology), the main outstanding challenges are to focus on implementation to translate the well-assessed formal and functional features o f the system into tangible results. In addition, the Government may want to focus on a number o f specific challenges associated with some o f the indicators. 22, With respect to the outstanding actions under the CPAR, the main challenges lie infully implementing the very promising steps that have already been taken in terms o f developing a professional and attractive career for the procurement cadre and to finalise a national standard procurement certification to support the professionalism o f the cadre. 23. Finally, the PPA and the Government in general face a challenge in mobilising the necessary humanand financial resources to further strengthen the public procurement system. V l l l I.. Key Recommendations 24. Buildingon the findings o fthe Public Procurement Assessment, some recommendations are presented for meeting the key challenges facing PPA as outlined above. A modulated approach i s taken, distinguishingbetween short-term wins and medium -term actions. QuickWins Quick wins are generally defined as actions that with limited use o f resources can bring about notable changes and improvements within a year. It further applies to all o f the identifiedquick wins that key actions are already at an advanced stage o fimplementation. 25. Seek approval of the proposed amendments of Act 663 and formalize the regulations. To augment the provisions o f the law, it is important to formally approve the regulations and issue them. Inthis process the government may want to consider building on the current assessment to update the overall legal framework, particularly as it considers amending Act 663. Particular provisions that would benefit from being addressed are indicated in Chapter 6. 26. Reconsider strategy, preparation and conduct of future self-assessments and refine the PPME-Tool.To ensure value for money and strengthen the focus on risk mitigation when rolling out the PPME tool, measures to improve future assessments should focus on: (i) representativeness o f sampling at the entity level; (ii)appropriateness o f qualification o f assessors (including procurement); (iii)comprehensiveness o f instructions for assessors; (iv) planning sufficient time for assessments considering the size of the procurement entity to be assessed; (v) quality control; and (vi) sequencing further PPME roll out with capacity building initiatives and prioritization o f key procurement entities (based on annual volume of contracts). Furthermore some technical features o f the PPME tool should be refined to increase the validity, relevance and reliability o f data and to achieve full alignment with the OECD methodology (refer to chapter 6 Key Recommendations). PPA plans to use a refined PPMEtool inrolling out the assessment later in 2007. The new strategy will include updated guidelines with special attention on bid spenders and high volume contracts and completeness o f spectrum to cover Works, Goods and Consultants contracts. 27. Make operational the web-based procurement planning tool system. The PPA is encouraged to introduce the recently developed web-based procurement planning system to improve the quality o f procurement plans and to generate aggregate national procurement statistics. Training on the use o f the procurement planning tool has already started and it i s expected that the tool will be operational by January 2008 to allow monitoring o f quality assurance o f the plans ando f their quarterly requiredup dating needs to take place byPPA. 28. Establishnationalstandardcertificationsystem. Itwill be imperative for PPA to ensure that the documents prepared for the establishment o f the Ghana Institution o f Procurement and Supply Chain Management are fully adapted to the needs and requirements o f both the private and public sectors in Ghana. Once this has been ensured, the PPA should put its full weight behind the formalization o f the Institution, its Charter and Code. This process should be closely coordinated with the current drive to institutionalize and develop high-quality medium and long- term training programs. There should be a clear linkage between degrees and certificates from ix such programs and subsequent accreditation from the authorized body. The final report to establish the Ghana Institute o f Procurement and Supply Chain Management i s ready and being considered by the PPA, which plans to inaugurate the institute by December 2008. 29. Execute the Short Training Program. The short-term training program, launched in August 2007, represents a "window o f opportunity" to strengthen compliance with the legal framework. Given the funding constraints (discussed above) the burden o f financing o f the training program cannot be borne by PPA budget only. It is suggested that PPA deals with the organizational aspects o f the workshops while the funding o f participants (transport/per idem etc.) is covered by the training budget o f the respective procuring entities. For now, PPA plans to secure finding until next year (2009) at which time, procuring entities are expected to have budgetaryprovisions for fundingtheir participants. It is further recommended that the program i s closely monitored and updated as necessary to put emphasis to the extent possible on critical areas already identified by the GoG self assessment report. 30. Establish efficient mechanisms to delegate authority. As noted, the current architecture o f entity tender committees and tender review boards does not allow for expedient processing o fprocurement processes. It i s encouraging that the Government i s aware and looking into this issue. It is recommended that action is taken, after careful consideration o f the associated risks, to streamline and simplify the current architecture allowing for more swift and flexible operations o f these structures. PPA has included this recommendation in the proposed amendments o fAct 663, which are expected to be approved by December 2007. 31. Consolidate the Appeals and Complaints Panel, strengthen its independence and publicizethe number of existingcomplaintsthat have been addressed. It is considered vital for the overall credibility, accountability and transparency of the procurement system, that the Appeals and Complaints Panel implement the rules, as soon as possible, to start clearing the backlog o f cases submitted for administrative review, follow up on sanctions, and generally act as an advocate for law enforcement. PPA has recognized the importance to ensure full independence and autonomy o f the ACP from the rest o f the system with regard to resolving complaints and plans to revise its composition by December 2007 with a view to make it a completely independent entity 32. Publishregularlythe Public ProcurementBulletinand supplementthe website with informationon contract opportunities,contract awards, and procurementplans. To ensure wide and easily accessible publicationo fbusiness opportunities andto comply with Act 663, the Public Procurement Bulletin should now be published regularly after its official launching in August 22, 2007. Also, the PPA should be commended for having in place a very comprehensive website which is regularly updated, a1 least with respect to some categories o f information. Nevertheless it i s proposed that PPA further increases the value o f the site by adding up-to-date information on contract opportunities, awards and procurement plans. This will greatly strengthenthe transparency and accountability ofthe public procurement system and will, as an added value, allow potentialbiddersmore time to plan ahead andprepare bids. MediumTerm 33. Build up sustainable procurement training programs within local training institutions.It is strongly recommended that PPA encourages existing training institutions inthe X private and public sector to develop high-quality programs in procurement training. It will be vital to create an incentive structure that will inspire procurement professionals to enroll in professional courses. If participation in training courses i s associated with accreditation and increased likelihood for career progression, the incentive to sign up will increase. It will also be necessary for MDAs to allocate sufficient finds for training o f their procurement staff. In turn this will depend on the development o fabroader environment o faccountability for performance, andthus the efficient management o fprocurement is a critical contributor to this. 34. Implement career path for procurement professionals.PPA shall be commended for having initiated the report on "Establishment o f a Career Path and Career Development o f Procurement Professionals and Practitioners in the PublicKivil Service". Implementing the recommendations o f the report following its approval in June 20n by the Office o f the Head o f Civil Service i s now the next important step. The establishment o f a career path i s central to the development o f a procurement cadre and would link career decisions with staff performance appraisal reports. Ideally, it would create an incentive system for procurement professionals from a monetary and status point o f view. 35. Strengthen private sector capacity to successfully compete for government contracts. Workshops on how to do business with the government in compliance with Act 663 should be offered on a regular basis, ideally as an integrated part o f the short term training program. PPA could also advocate for and assist in offering workshops by Professional Associations. Ifprivate companies realize the chance to gain a competitive advantage by being better trained and informed, they should enlist in courses even if offered on a cost-covering basis. Successful workshops for service providers would create a win-win situation for the private sector, its professional associations and the procurement entities. 36. Strengthen procurement expertise among audit institutions. To increase the effectiveness o f control and audit systems, it i s important to strengthen collaboration among the oversight bodies including IAA, GAS and PPA. With respect to the capacity to undertake procurement audits, training i s already addressed to some extent under the short-term training program, but more efforts are needed to build the necessary body o f knowledge on procurement related issues among the auditors. Besides this, topics for consideration could comprise specific requirements for procurement compliance and performance audits, planning annual procurement audits and follow-up mechanisms. Summary 37. Table 1 below provides an overview o f the key recommendations, their proposed sequencing and the institutions proposed responsible for implementation. As highlighted, the focus o f the procurement reform me should be on implementation, i.e. on applying the well- defined system in daily practice. Due to the resource implications involved, it needs to be emphasized again that continuous high-level Government commitment and support is indispensable to make the Ghanaian procurement reform a success. x i Table 1: ProposedKey Recommendations -: I : .. . : ` 8 : Supplemcnting Procurentent Lcgal Frainework Seek amenifnientsapprovalof Actof663the and fomYali/eproposed x P P k Parliament ~~~~ the regutations improving Procurement Assesmcnt Reconsider strategy, preparation and PPA Framework conduct of futurc self-assessments (increasing focus on risk factors and qualit) asmrancc) and refine the PPME \ tool prior io rolling out ltlisessinent later in 2007 (`apacity tk\clopinent fur Public I'fOCUI ClllCfit 0 Mainstreanling i'rocurciiient Make operational web-based PPA procurementplanningtool in January s 2008 0 Increabinginstitutional Build up sustainable procurcmetit PPA with hlinijtry Dcwlopnicnt Capacity training programswithin local training ' of Education, iiisiitutions uiiiwrsitics and thrablish iiational standard certitication priwtetmiiiing sysierii Y iiistitutioris 0 Strengthenins Procurcinent Execute the Short tcrni training l'P.4 Opcratians and Contract program launchediri August 2007 Y Adiiiinistrrttion Implenient rcccntly approvedcareer }'PA path for procurenirnt professionals x Establish efficicrit rnechanisins to PPA, GoG, Ministry delegate authority for procurenlent x responsible for local decisions (anicndnicnt to Act 663) govcintncnt BuildingCapacity of I'tthlic Srrengtticn privatc sector capacity 10 PI'A with piikdte Prucurenicnt Market successlutly cumpete lor government .Y sector associations contracts Consolidate the Appcnls and PPA Complaints Pmei, stretigtheii its indepeiidenccand publicile the number x ofexisting complaints that have been Strengthening internal arid cxtcrnal addressed scrutiny of`procttrernent decisions Strengthen procurement expertise s PPA, GAS and 1.4A amongaudit institutions Publish regularly the Procurement PPA Rutittin and supplement the website \ ~ i t h intitmiation on contract \ oppormmies, contrrtct awards and prucurcnicntplans xii INTRODUCTION 1. In 2003, the OEDC/DAC and the World Bank established the Roundtable on Strengthening Procurement Capacities in Developing Counties with the aim to create better tools and techniques to strengthen procurement in developing countries. In 2005, the Joint Venture for Procurement was set up with a mandate to fulfil the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and its commitments to: strengthen national procurement systems; support capacity development; and use local country systems. The "Methodology for Assessment o f National Procurement Systems" was developed as a tool to assess procurement system^.^ 2. Ghana has been actively involved in the Roundtable and has developed a methodology for assessment of compliance and performance o f procurement entities, referred to as the Public Procurement Model o f Excellence (PPME). The tool was piloted in 2005 and a large scale assessment o f more than 200 entities was carried out in 2006. At the same time, the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment completed in 2006, as part o f the annual External Review o f Public Financial Management (ERPFM), raised awareness about the importance o f establishing a baseline to enable evidence-based monitoring o f developments in the quality and performance o f the country's public procurement system against a set on internationally agreed standards. 3. For 2007, the expenditures for public procurement in Ghana are estimated at 17 percent o f GDP. This shows that there i s a strong link between the efficiency o f the national procurement system, its impact on Public Financial Management as a whole, and the achievement o f the GPRS I1 development goals. Overall, the goal o f this assessment is to support the Government's ongoing initiatives to increase value for money (VFM) and to assist in laying the foundation for measuringthe impact o fprocurement reforms over time. 4. The Public Procurement Assessment is a key component o f the 2007 External Review o f Public Financial Management (ERPFM), a World-Bank led exercise conducted annually with other donors involved inthe Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) framework. The assessment focused on: (i) conducting an independent review o f the Government's 2006 self-assessment o f public procurement performance; (ii)preparing, jointly with the Government, an assessment o f the formal and functional features o fthe nationalprocurement system usingthe above mentioned OECD/DAC methodology; (iii) reviewing progress inimplementing the recommendations o f the World Bank 2004 Country Procurement Assessment Report (CPAR); and (iv) identifying actions that would contribute to further improve the quality and performance o f Ghana's public procurement system. 5. The Public Procurement Assessment Report starts by briefly describing the country context (Chapter 1). Developments since the 2004 CPAR (Chapter 2) and the conclusions o f the review o f the Government's 2006 self-assessment o f performance o f its procurement entities are presented in Chapters 2 and 3, respectively. The detailed findings o f the Joint Public Procurement Assessment o f the formal and functional features o f the national procurement www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness Why is procurement important? Methodology for Assessment ofNational Procurement Systems (Version 4) 1 systems using the abovementioned OECDDAC "Methodology for Assessment o f National Procurement Systems" constitutes Chapter 4. Outstanding Challenges and Key Recommendations are presented in Chapters 5 and 6, respectively. Attached to this report are 9 Annexes detailing sources o f information and listing persons met duringthe assessment. 1. COUNTRY CONTEXT OVERVIEW 1.1 Over the years, Ghana has accumulated considerable experience on public procurement. In 1996, the World Bank's Country Procurement Assessment Review (CPAR) identified the main deficiencies in the public procurement system as loose legal framework, lack o f codified procedures and regulations, weak capacity o f procurement staff, and unclear institutional and organizational arrangements for processing procurement and decision-making in award o f contracts. The CPAR recommended comprehensive procurement reforms. The Government engaged consultants to prepare a draft procurement code in2002. 1.2 Another CPAR was carried out in 2003 which identified weaknesses in the legal and institutional framework, lack o f good procurement procedures and practices, inadequate procurement proficiency, weak independent oversight and audits and a weak anti-corruption agenda. 1.3 A procurement bill was presented to parliament in March 2003 and the Government o f Ghana enacted the Public Procurement Act (Act 663) inDecember, 2003. Public Procurement in Ghana therefore i s subject to the Act and its implementing Regulations and Administrative Instructions. The Act provides the general rules governing Public Procurement. 1.4 The Public Procurement Board (PPA) which was established in2004 acts as the statutory advisory and coordinating body on procurement. NATURE SCOPEOFPUBLICEXPENDITURE AND 1.5 N o aggregate statistical data are available on the annual volume o f public procurement in terms o f goods, works and services. To obtain an indication o f the scale o f public procurement expenditure, the following two budget items can be taken into consideration: Operations and Maintenance and Total Investments. Certain assumptions needed to be madeS4On this basis, as shown in Table 1.1 below, public procurement spending is estimated at 23.2 trillion cedis in 2007 or over 15 percent - 17 percent o f GDP (2005 - 2007). With estimated total tax revenue o f 29 trillion o f cedis5in2007, public procurement represents about 80 percent o f tax revenue. Source: Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Assumptions 1) Road Fund, DACF, Donors and HIPC assumed to be all Investment 2) Internally Generated Funds assumed to be split, 57 percent on O&M, 10percent o n Investment as in2007 3) Budget Statement 4) GET andNHIF assumedto be split 1/3 O&M, 2/3 Investment Source: 2007 Budget Statement, tax revenue collection 29.2 trillion cedis 2 Table 1.1: Scope of Public Expenditure Categoryof expenditure(in billionof cedis) 2005 2006 2007 (budgeted) 1. Operation & Maintenance 2392 3175 3460 Government of Ghana 1029 1274 996 Internally GeneratedFunds 708 1085 1264 Ghana EducationTrust Fund 327 361 592 National Health Insurance Fund 328 455 608 2. Total Investment 11795 14671 19696 2.1 Domestic Financed 5849 9392 10730 Government o f Ghana 894 2943 2599 Internally Generated Funds 122 186 217 Statutory Funds 2886 3225 4546 HIPC+MDRI 1947 3038 3368 2.2 Foreignfinanced 5946 5279 8966 Total Operation & Maintenance + Total Investment 14186 17847 23156 Nominal GDP 97216 118404 140075 Total Operation & Maintenance and Total Investment as % o f GDP 15 % 15 % 17 % ROLEOFTHENATIONAL SUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND 1.6 The Central Management Agencies (CMA eg. Office o f the President, Public Service Commission), Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDA's eg. Ministry o f Education, Department o f Feeder Roads), Subvented Agencies ( eg. Ghana Library Board) and State Own Enterprises (SOE's eg. Ghana W.ater Company, Electricity Company o f Ghana) handle procurement at the national level. The Ministerial Tender Review Board (MTRB) gives approvals for procurement above the threshold o f the Entity Tender Committee, while the Central Tender Review Board gives approval for procurement above the MTRB thresholds. 1.7 The Metropolitan and Municipal District Assemblies (MMDA's, eg Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Tamale Municipal Assembly, GA West District Assembly) are responsible for their procurement. The DistrictRegional and Central Tender Review Boards are the approval authorities for procurement according to the thresholds defined in Schedule 3 o f Act 663. 1.8 Act 663 enjoins the entities to set up a procurement unit with the requisite staff to undertake procurement LINKSWITHBUDGETARY CONTROLMECHANISMS AND 1.9 The National Budget is prepared annually by the Ministry o f Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) and placed before parliament for approval. All procurement entities are to 3 prepare annual procurement plans for approval by the MOFEP. After budget approval and at quarterly intervals, each procurement entity shall submit an update. Monthly cash ceilings are definedby the MOFEP. 1.10 The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Budgetary and Public Expenditure Management System (BPEMS) are the frameworks that link budgetary and control mechanism in Ghana. According to Act 663, procurement activities are not to be initiated without existingbudgetaryappropriations. 1.11 The 2008 budget circular emphasizes the importance o f timely presentation o f procurement plans in the context o f budget preparation since in 2007, this process was still to become routine. PROCUREMENT SYSTEM AND ITS LINKSWITH THE REST OF PUBLIC SECTOR 1.12 InGhana, theGovernmentrecognizesthat amoreeffectiveprocurementsystemiscritical for the achievement o f the country's growth and poverty reduction goals. The Strategy and Action Plan for 2006 - 2009 o f the Ministry o f Finance and Economic Planning, addresses the strict implementation o f Act 663 including harmonization and alignment o f systems as an important expected output to account for public finances properly. Actions to be completed by PPA encompass the development o f regulations, manuals and guidelines; development o f mechanisms for publication notices and contracts; training me; appointment o f staff for PPA secretariat, permanent accommodation; and development o f website. Among others, the Benchmarking, Monitoring and Evaluation o f 500 key procurement entities i s also noted for 2007. 1.13 Moreover, the Strategy and Action plano fthe MOFEPrefers to the strict implementation o f the Internal Audit Agency Act. The Internal Audit Agency which was established in 2003 shall set standards and procedures for the conduct o f internal audit activities in the MDAs and MMDAS and shall monitor, undertake inspections and evaluate the internal auditing. Internal audit units have been established in approximately 25 percent o f the possible units during the period o f December 2006. Standards for specialized procurement audits are yet to be developed. 1.14 According to Act 663, the Auditor General shall conduct annual audits o f the procurement activities and shall carry out specific audits at the request o f PPA. At present, procurement issues are only captured within financial audits. 1.15 Enforcement and follow-up o f audit findings i s entrusted to the Audit Reports Implementation Committees (ARIC) which are still inthe process o f being built up at the entity level. PROCUREMENT SYSTEM KEY STRUCTURESAND ROLES - 1.16 The key procurement structures as indicated in Act 663 are the Public Procurement Board, Procurement Entities, Tender Committees, Tender Evaluation Panel and Tender Review Boards. 4 1.17 The PPA is entrusted with 21 finctions under the Act which may be summarized as follows: e Formulate/develop public procurement policies, set standards, rules, instructions and other regulatory instruments on public procurement. e Ensure policy implementation andhuman resource development for public procurement; e Ensuredissemination o f information relating to public procurement; e Facilitate and ensure training and professional development inpublic procurement e Organize and participate in administrative review o f complaints and appeals on public procurement; e Maintain a data base o f suppliers, contractors and consultants and a record o f prices to assist inthe work o fprocurement entities e Investigate and debar from public procurement, suppliers, contractors and consultants who contravene the provisions o f the Act; e Provide platform for discussion o f issues relating to public procurement and e Assist the local business community to become competitive and efficient e Present annual report to the Minister, advise Government on procurement related issues. 1.18 A procurement entity is responsible for procurement, subject to the Act andto such other conditions as be laid down inthe procurement regulations. The head o f an entity and any officer to whom responsibility i s delegated are responsible and accountable for action taken and for any instructions with regard to the implementation o f this Act that may be issued by the Minister acting inconsultation with the Board. 1.19 Tender Committees are to be established in every entity to ensure that at every stage o f the procurement activity, procedures prescribed in this Act have been followed; exercise sound judgment in making procurement decisions; and refer to the appropriate Tender Review Board for approval ifrequired. 1.20 Every procurement entity is mandated to appoint a tender evaluation panel with the required expertise to evaluate tenders and assist the Tender Committee in its work. In the performance o f its functions, a tender evaluation panel shall proceed according to the predeterminedandpublishedevaluation criteria. 1.21 The Act prescribes the establishment of Tender Review Boards at each level o f public procurement. The boards are as follows; Central Tender Review Board; e Ministerialhleadquarters Tender Review Boards; Regional Tender Review Boards; District Tender Review Boards. 5 1.22 A Tender Review Board shallperformthe following functions: Inrelation to the particular procurement under consideration, review the activities at each step o f the procurement cycle leading to the selection o f the lowest evaluated bidinorder to ensure compliance with the provisions o f this Act and its operating instructions and guidelines; 0 Give concurrent approval or otherwise to enable the procurement entity continue with the procurement process; Furnish the Board with reports in a prescribed format; Participate in public procurement fora; andreview decisions o fheads o f entities inrespect o f a complaint. 1.23 Local suppliers, contractors and consultants provide valuable services in the area o f goods, works and service. However, the M S M E sector has limited international market exposure and a lack o f management capacity. Private sector organizations exist but so far have not played an active role indisseminatingthe new procurement regulationsto their members. 1.24 The Ghana Anti Corruption Coalition, an anti-corruption body consisting o f the Ghana Integrity Initiative, the Serious Fraud Office, the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Ghana Journalist Association, the Private Enterprise Foundation, Institute o f Economic Affairs, Centre for Democratic Development and the Association o f Religious Bodies, has been advocating for transparency and accountability in Ghana and has just recently started to deal with selected points in the field o f public procurement. 2. DEVELOPMENTS SINCE CPAR OF 2003 INTRODUCTION 2.1 In this chapter, the progress in implementing the recommendations listed in the 2003 Country Procurement Assessment Report (CPAR) i s reviewed. The CPAR was prepared in the period October 2002 - May 2003 by the World Bank, other Development Partners, and Government o f Ghana with support from consultants. The aim was to conduct an in-depth analysis o f Ghana's procurement fiduciary management performance. The CPAR exercise measured public procurement against five areas: (i) strong legal and institutional framework; (ii) good procurement procedures and practices; (iii) procurement proficiency; (iv) independent oversight, audits, and recourse; and (v) fight costly corruption. Other important areas were also looked at by the assessment. 2.2 Overall, substantial progress has beenmade inimplementing actions agreed inthe CPAR. Highlights include: i)enactment o f the Public Procurement Law (Act 663 given assent on 31 December 2003); ii)establishment o f the Public Procurement Board; iii)development o f standard bidding documents and request for proposals; iv) establishment o f an appeals and complaints panel; v) the development o f a software package for procurement planning; vi) the development o f a core short term training modules for public officials, the private sector and 6 national oversight bodies; and vii) development o f the PPME tool to collect and assess data on compliance andperformance. 2.3 The CPAR recommendations and the corresponding status are discussed inmore detail in the following sections. A summary o f the CPAR implementation status for each o f the recommendations i s also available inh e x 2. LEGAL INSTITUTIONALFRAMEWORK AND 2.4 The CPAR 2003 commended the Government for having developed and put before Parliament a new bill for public procurement. Building on these achievements, the CPAR encouraged the Government to enact the bill, develop the institutional framework and put the onus on implementation. 2.5 Inthe period immediately following the CPAR, the momentum for procurement reform was maintained by the establishment o f the Public Procurement Oversight Group (PPOG) under the MoFEP. As recommended by the CPAR, the PPOG worked as a task force and was responsible for working towards the development o f the PPA. The PPOG existed until the enactment o f Act 663. The Public Procurement Board was subsequently inaugurated by the President o f the Republic on 04 August 2004. The development o f the institutional framework at central level was supplemented at the entity level by the establishment o f Entity Tender Committees and Review Boards. 2.6 The CPAR also made recommendations to clarify a number o f issues related to the (then) public procurement bill. Inthis context the CPAR recommendedto make it explicit that national competitive tendering (NCT) should be open to foreign firms apart from where exceptions were made and publicly disclosed in the regulations. Section 25 currently regulates participation in procurement proceedings, subject to sections 44, 45 and 46. The PPA has in this respect informed that section 44 o f Act 663 gives direction on who qualifies to participate inNCT: "All firms registered in Ghana, irrespective o f nationality can participate in NCT". Accordingly, foreign firms can take part inN C T under the proviso that they are registered locally or have local representative in Ghana. 2.7 Another issue highlighted by the CPAR was the proposal to mandate inthe Act the use o f "bid evaluation criteria quantified in monetary terms and o f objective bidders qualification criteria". Section 59(2) o f Act 663 says no criteria shall be used that has not been set out. Section 59(3) further stipulates that criteria should be objective and quantifiable. However, Section 59(4)(c) goes on to list a number o f criteria that the procurement entity shall consider when determining the lowest evaluated tender. These include "the effect the acceptance o f the tender will have on balance o f payments position, counter-trade arrangements, economic development potential offered by tenders, and the development of skills. Similar criteria are listed for the evaluation o f proposals (services) under section 69 o f the Act. (See Chapter 4, Pillar I, Indicator 1f for details). 2.8 The standard tender documents (STDs) list the specific qualification criteria to be used under the various types o f procurement. For example, the 'Prequalification Document' for 'Procurement o f Works, Major Equipment, and Industrial Installations' specify pass-fail criteria 7 to be used for applicants. These include (i) general experience; (ii) particular experience, (iii) financial capabilities, (iv) personnel capabilities, and (v) litigationhistory. 2.9 A third major issue highlighted by the CPAR report concerned the disclosure o f information related to the application o f the Margin o f Preference, relevant percentages, and eligibility provisions. The PPA has now from its website made available "Guidelines for Margins o f Preference" issued under section 60(3) o f Act 663 establishing the conditions for applying margins o f preference for goods, works and services in the case o f N C T and ICT. The margins range from 20 percent (goods under certain conditions) to 7.5 percent in the case o f works tendered under certain conditions either through joint ventures or through sub-contracting o f domestic contractors. For services, the guidelines allow for adding up to 15 points where local expertise i s used. However, the guidelines are still in draft form, pending Parliamentary approval. GOODPROCUREMENTPROCEDURESAND PRACTICES 2.10 As pointed out by the CPAR, procedures and practices throughout the tendering and contract management process were in urgent need o f correction. This would according to the Review be one o f the most effective ways o f realizing savings and introducing more transparent operations into the public procurement system. 2.1 1 One o f the main areas identified for strengthening was the preparation and mainstreaming o f the procurement planningand budgeting process. This i s an area analyzed extensively in the context o f the OECD/DAC methodology used for the Joint Assessment (see Chapter 4, Indicator 3, for details). 2.12 To date there has been no thorough scrutiny o f public procurement plans and hence no systematic quality assurance. The procurement entities have typically been submitting their procurement plans to the MoFEP, but this has now been changed following a 15 March 2007 letter from the MoFEP Chief Director instructing entity tender committees to submit their procurement plans for approval one month to the end o f the financial year. The letter further makes clear that copies o f the plans are to be submitted to the PPA for quality assurance check. 2.13 It will be instructive to obtain feedback from PPA as to the quality and comprehensiveness o f the plans once a more systematic quality assurance process has been established. To further strengthen the procurement planningprocess it has also been included as one o f the modules o f its training program. Hence Module 9 deals explicitly with procurement planningand deals inparticular with packaging, costing, selection o fprocurement methods, and lead times o f the respective procurement processes. 2.14 The PPA is also in the process o f rolling out a web-based e-procurement planning software. Training on the use o f the procurement planning tool has already started and it i s expected that the tool will be operational by January 2008 to enable entities to prepare and submit procurement plans electronically. Moreover, the system is expected to serve as a useful input for PPA monitoring and evaluation (planned against actual for example) and for other high level users such as MoFEP officials. 8 2.15 Training is an important part o f rolling out the system. According to the 2006 PPA annual report, the intention is to train 220 key entities by July 2007 inthe use o f the system. This training has already started and i s on track with 143 entities trained so far (May 2007) 2.16 Another area singled out by the CPAR i s the need to improve value for money (VFM) in procurement. The Assessment focused in particular on the need to increase the scope o f competitive tendering including the need to reduce sole sourcing and restricted tendering. Inthis respect, section 40 (2) o f Act 663 mandates a Procurement Entity (PE) to place a public notice for comments from the public before any single source procurement is initiated. In addition, all single source procurements are supposed to be approved by the PPA. According to the 2006 PPA Annual Report (Draft o f April 2006), the Board had received 137 requests for sole source tendering in the period December 2005 - December 2006. Approximately 50 percent o f these were approved by the Board. In the same period, the Board received 141 applications for restrictedtendering and roughly 60 percent were approved. 2.17 Moreover, it should be noticed that the timelines o f publishingsuch notices has not been made explicit in the legal framework. According to information obtained from PPA, it i s for the PPA to "direct on the periods for publicationdepending on the complexity o fprocurement". 2.18 To further strengthen the VFM aspect o f public procurement, there are currently plans afoot inthe PPA to strengthen the VFM capacity. A team o f officers from the PPA Directorates o f Benchmarking, Monitoring and Evaluation; Policy and Strategy; and Management Information Systems are currently working on this issue. N o specific information has been obtained on the status o f this work. 2.19 The CPAR noted that the area of contract management will benefit from "greater professionalism inthe procurement function". For example, a review o f 291contracts conducted inthe context of the CPAR revealed that more than halfwere late incompletion. No statistical data i s available to determine whether the rate o f contracts completed on time has been improved since the CPAR but it i s generally believed that delays in payment persist and completion certificates are not systematically issued. While no particular expertise has been contracted to look specifically at this issue (as suggested by the CPAR), it is reassuring to see that contract management has been included inthe curricula for the forthcoming training program. Moreover, the public procurement manual released in 2006 also has specific provisions on contract management. 2.20 The use o f modernlabor standards inwork contracts is another area highlightedby the CPAR. This i s according to the CPAR an area o f particular importance to contracts carried out by small and medium sized contractors who rarely use such standards. Inthe case of Ghana, the PPA has made available STDs for both small (small value, low duration, and low risk) and medium-sized (lump-sum) contracts. None o f these STDs have any explicit clauses on labor standards. According to information obtained from the PPA, the Labour Commission is responsible for overseeing/ monitoring that labour standards are being complied with. 2.21 The CPAR also drew attention to the need for improving procurement record keeping. Like contract management, it is generally believed that this area has received relatively low attention both centrally and at the entity level. Section 28 o f Act 663 specifies various records to 9 be kept but fails to explicitly mention some important documents such as tender amendments or contract amendments (see Chapter 4, Indicator 6c for details). There i s no specific training module on procurement record keeping inthe forthcoming short-term training program. PROCUREMENTPROFICIENCY 2.22 The CPAR emphasized the fact that for the new legal framework to become truly effective, a comprehensive training program will be critical. In addition, the CPAR also called for a training needs assessment to be conducted along with steps to promote and encourage the procurementprofession. 2.23 Infull keeping with one ofthe CPAR recommendations, PPA, together with the IIA and the GAS, commissioned a skills and trainingneeds assessment in April 2006. The assessment covered 39 entities (MDAs and MMDAs) and focused on knowledge o f and capacity to implement the key acts inthe area o f financial administration (Act 654), internal audits (Act 658) andprocurement (Act 663). Some o fthe key findings o fthe assessmentwere: absence o f dedicated procurement units insome entities; 0 poor quality o f staff insome units, especially at lower levels; and 0 some lack o fpolitical and management will to ensure the implementationo f the laws. 2.24 In keeping with these findings, the assessment made recommendations for programs designed to cover lower, middle and senior level personnel. 2.25 Training activities have in the past years mainly been carried out through awareness workshops conducted by PPA to disseminate the Act. Inaddition separate training courses on the electronic procurement planning tool are as mentioned currently being rolled out to the procurement entities. 2.26 To develop a more holistic and comprehensive short-term program, PPA in June 2006, commissioned GIMPA and Crown Agents to develop training modules for a short-term training program to be rolled out this year. The program i s based on 25 modules and different combinations o f these modules will be offered to different target groups. Two areas that in the CPAR were considered in particular need o f strengthening at the entity level were contract management and procurement record keeping. Inthis regard, it i s as mentioned encouraging that one o f the modules are dedicated to contract management. 2.27 The training program will be rolled out nationwide following a trainer o f trainer phase. The rolling out o f the program is made possible through funding from the DFID and will be supplementedby funds from the Government o fGhana. 2.28 To further strengthen procurement proficiency and to supplement the various training programs, PPA commissioned experts to develop the above mentioned procurement manual which was finalized in2006. The Manual is currently on the website, but has not yet beenmade available in print. No information i s available as to the dissemination (and subsequent use by newly recruited staff) o f the manual. 10 2.29 The CPAR recommended that PPA to the extent possible made use o f existing training institutions for support o f its various training programs. As mentioned, both GIMPA and Crown Agents have been involved in the design o f the short-term training program and will also be responsible for the subsequent training o f trainers phase with the exception that the short-listing o f trainers was carried out by the Board itself. Intotal seven to eight private training companies will be involved inthe full roll-out o fthe program. 2.30 Another focus area singled out by the CPAR was the need to encourage and support the procurement profession. As documented by the October 2006 report "Establishment o f Career Path and Career Development o f Procurement Professionals and Practitioners inthe Public/Civil Service" there are plans afoot to develop a career path (see Chapter 4, Pillar 11). The report was approved in June 20th 2007, by the Office o f the Head o f Civil Service and is awaiting implementation. 2.31 The CPAR also argued that the procurement profession could be strengthened through the adoption o f a National Standard Procurement Certification. Various initiatives have been launched to that effect, including a December 2005 stakeholder's forum to form a national association which brought together CIPS UK,the Institute o f Supply Management o f the U S and a number o f local practitioners. According to the 2006 PPA Annual Report the Board has furthermore inaugurated a committee to submit proposals for the establishment o f a professional association. The committee subsequently prepared a draft constitution and draft code o f ethics for the proposed 'Ghana Institute o f Procurement and Supply Chain Management' (GIPSCM). According to the draft constitution, GIPSCM will among other things endeavor to ''conduct or provide for the conduct of the qualifying examinations for membership o f the Institution and to prescribe or approve courses o f study for such examinations". Moreover, it i s stated that GIPSCM will issues practicing certificates to applicants once the GIPSCM Council is satisfied that they hold the relevant qualifications. The final report to establish the GIPSCM is ready and being considered by the PPA, which plansto inaugurate the institute by December 2008 INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT,AUDITS, AND RECOURSE 2.32 The CPAR commended Ghana for having provisions in its legal framework for review and procurement audits among other things. The Assessment acknowledges that this i s typically one o f the weakest areas in many countries and implementation o f the various provisions is therefore considered critical. 2.33 As a point o f departure, the establishment in February 2007 o f the Appeals and Complaints Panel should be commended. At the same time it should be noted the no information could be obtained as to the status on any o f the 21 cases brought to the attention o f the PPA in the period 19 December 2005 - 03 April 2007 (preceding the establishment o f the Appeals and Complaints Panel). 2.34 The development o f an effective sanctions system was another recommendation put forward by the CPAR. Procurement offences and the corresponding penalties are described in section 92 o f Act 663. As already indicated there i s limited experience so far to judge the effectiveness o f the system. 11 2.35 The CPAR also called for the institutionalization o f separate, specializedprocurement audits by the Auditor General. This is also mandated by section 91 o f Act 663. So far this area has seen relatively little progress. However, the Office o f the Auditor General will shortly be rolling out a training program to give its staff the necessary skills to carry out this task. Moreover a procurement audit unithas been established within the GAS with currently one staff member. 2.36 As recognized by the CPAR, it will be necessary to back up the above mentioned priorities and activities with adequate capacity building provisions. DFID has for example provided funds for capacity building activities within the PPA and the World Bank will be financing the training for specialized procurement audits within the GAS. Inaddition, significant training activities in the area o f procurement are also being funded by the M C A capacity buildingcomponent. FIGHTCOSTLYCORRUPTION 2.37 Corruption plays a central role in the Government's strategy for growth and reduction o f poverty (GRSP 11).Against this backdrop the CPAR called for a number o f actions to be taken to fight corruption in the area o f procurement, including broad dissemination of the Act, preparation o ftransparent uniformbiddingdocuments and enforcement o f codes o f conduct. 2.38 Following its enactment, the Public Procurement Act (Act 663) has been made available at the PPA website. To disseminatethe Act and convey its main messages, the PPA organized a minimum o f ten awareness creation workshops on a regional basis throughout the country. In addition, workshops for specific pnvate-sector organizations were also arranged (see below). 2.39 The Board should be commended for making available standard tender documents from its website. The majority o f the STDs include anti-corruption clauses. For example the "Instructions to Tenderers'l inthe STD for medium sized work contracts has a 1.5 page provision on "Corrupt and Fraudulent Practices" (section 37). However, STDs for request for proposals and request for quotations do not have such anti-corruption provisions. 2.40 The CPAR also recommended for the code of conductfor civil servantsto be enforced. There is no specific evidence to show that any specific activities have been launched to that effect. The PPA's training program i s a window o f opportunity to bring the provisions o f the code o f ethics for procurement officials to the attention o fthe various procurement staff. 2.41 Furthermore, the CPAR saw the need for a more strategic involvement o f the private sector and the media. The PPA has responded to this recommendation and has for example carried out a number o f awareness workshops targeting various private sector representatives including the Association o f Ghana Industries, the Private Enterprise Foundation, and the Ghana Employers Association. Moreover, PPA organized a public forum on 24 August 2006 focusing on "Public Procurement and Good Governance". According to a PPA written statement, the objective o f the forum was to make the public aware o f Act 663 and the relevant procedures, methods and issues. The forum also provided an opportunity for the public to interact with the PPA. 12 2.42 With respect to the media, PPA provided a list o f 13 newspaper articles from February, March and M a y 2007. The articles indicate a keen interest o f the local media in procurement reform and compliance with Act 663. 2.43 A case inpoint from last year is the coverage o f the Macmillan case, where the Ministry o f Education, Science and Sports tried to single-sourced the supply o f schoolbooks worth US$ 28m. In consequence a case against the Ministry was brought by the Ghana Book Publishers Association and received close coverage from the local media throughout. The case i s still pending. OTHERIMPORTANT AREAS 2.44 As electronic procurement is considered to increase efficiency andtransparency inpublic procurement processes, the CPAR also made a recommendation that it should be introduced in Ghana, at least at the national level. The PPA is yet to develop this facility, but the development o f the web-based procurement planning system should be seen as an indication that the Board i s open to the opportunities and synergies associated with electronic management o fprocurement. 2.45 Looking beyond the PPA another important area identified by the CPAR was the needto reduce transaction costs associated with clearing and exporting goods from the main sea ports. According to the 2006 Country Profile released from the Economist Intelligence Unit, huge infrastructure developments have been completed in the past two years including a 200 meters extension o f the quay at the Tema Port. Allegedly, these investments have decreased turnaround time for ships inthe ports, now estimated to be around the quickest in West Africa. No evidence has been obtained as to whether any administrative simplifications have also been implemented to reduce transaction costs. 3. INDEPENDENTREVIEWOFTHE GOVERNMENT'S SELF-ASSESSMENT INTRODUCTION 3.1 The objective o f the Independent Review o f the Government's self-assessment is to analyze the results o f the Government o f Ghana's assessment o f the performance o f its procurement entities to validate the usefulness o f the PPME tool to monitor public procurement practices at the entity level. The results o f this assessment were also reviewed to assist establish a baseline against which hture progress in the efficiency o f the country's public procurement system can be measured. 3.2 This Chapter is organized along the following structure. The first sub-chapter 3.1 The Government's self-assessment will present background, methodology and findings o f the Government's self-assessment: The GoG's achievements in developing the Public Procurement Model o f Excellence (PPME) will be highlighted, the scope o f the nationwide procurement assessment o f 2006 will be described followed by an introduction to the indicator system used in the PPME tool and a summary o fthe findings, namely expressed inthe two main reporting tools, the Performance Assessment System (PAS) Report 2006 and the Performance Measurement Indicator (PMI) Report 2006. 13 3.3 The second sub-chapter inChapter 3,3.2 Evaluationof the Government's findings will focus on the consultant's independent evaluation o f the Government's self-assessment. First, the approach in carrying out the review will be described. Second, the methodology used by the GoG, the coverage o f the survey, the relevance and reliability o f data used compared to the stated objective and conclusions o f the Government's self-assessment will be critically reviewed and analyzed. Next, the results o f the Government's self-assessment will be reviewed and analyzed inthe light ofavailable data and informationgathered from stakeholders, bothwithin andoutside the public sector. Finally, lessons learned will be taken and further development and or improvement o f the assessment framework will be discussed followed by more detailed elaborations inChapter 5 OutstandingChallenges and Chapter 6 Key Recommendations. THEGOVERNMENT'S SELF-ASSESSMENT Background 3.4 The Government o f Ghana has taken the lead in developing and using a tool to measure compliance and performance o f the public procurement system at the entity level. The Public Procurement Board presented the Public Procurement Model o f Excellence (PPME) tool and the results o f its pilot assessment at the OECDDAC Joint Venture (JV) on Procurement inManila in February 2006, andthis initiative was highly appreciated by the JV members. 3.5 The PPME tool allows for the qualitative and quantitative measurement o f public procurement at the level o fthe procurement entity. Taking into considerationthat Ghana's Public Procurement Act (Act 663) was approved in December 2003, it is highly commendable that a pilot self-assessment o f the procurement system using the PPME tool was carried out as early as 2005 (covering 100 entities), followed by a more comprehensive assessment in 2006 including 213 entities. 3.6 The self-assessments have been instrumental in disseminating the new legislation and to enhance management awareness at the entity level o f the operational challenges involved. Moreover, they highlight the commitment o f Ghana to monitor the implementation o f its procurement law. 3.7 Given the strategic importance o f the PPME assessment, an independent review o f the tool and its findings has been considered relevant and agreed to with the Government o f Ghana. METHODOLOGY Scope of Nationwideprocurementassessmentof 2006 3.8 The nationwide procurement assessment of 2006 covered 213 entities which were selected as follows: 96 entities which were assessedduringthe Pilot Assessment 2005 (all based inAccra), 63 additional entities from the Greater Accra Region and54 entities selected from the other nine regions inGhana. 3.9 Inaddition the selection was based on 6 main categories into which the procurement entities within the public procurement sector have been grouped (State-Owned Enterprises, Central Government Institutions, Educational hstitutions, Local Government entities made up of 14 the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, Health Institutions and Financial Institutions composed o f Bank o f Ghana and other Public Financial Institutions. Data collection approach 3.10 The assessmentswere carried out by a total o f about 50 assessorswho had participated in a 2-day training inAugust 2006. Data collection was done through actual site visits to each o fthe 213 procurement entities. Once the assessors had filled out the data collections sheets, they were handed over to data entry clerks who had also been briefed on the purpose and scope o f the assessment. INTRODUCTIONTO THE INDICATORSYSTEMINTHE PPMETOOL 3.11 The self-assessment o f procurement performance o f the procurement entities was done using the PPME tool. The PPME tool comprises two indicators: The Key Performance Criteria (KPC) and the Performance Measurement Indicators (PMI). KPCs deliver qualitative, PMI deliver quantitative compliance and performance data. 3.12 The KPC indicator system comprises 54 KPCs, for example: 0 KPClC5 - Procurement entity has a system for record o f procurement proceedings 0 KPClA3 - Internal audit provides timely information to enable management action and for improving performance 3.13 Information is collected at the entity, all 54 KPCs are rated and data is entered on an "Evaluation Grid". Rating takes place based on a scale from 0-10 upon evidence. 0 or 1i s rated ifthere isno system inplace, 6 or 7 ifa systemhasbeeninplacefor at least 3 years, butnotfully systematic/without continuous improvement. The KPC indicator system provides the data for the "Performance Assessment System (PAS) Report" (refer to Annex 5 Evaluation grid). 3.14 The PMIindicator system comprises 16 PMIindicators, for example: 0 Advertisement o fbids inpercent 0 Methods o fprocurement inpercent 0 Bidprocessing leadtime innumbero fdays 3.15 Around 10 contracts are supposed to be evaluated. The contract data is entered on the "Contract Sheets". The PMI indicator system provides the data for the "Performance Measurement Indicator (PMI) Report. Presentation of thefindings of the self-assessments (Reports) 3.16 For each entity, an individual assessment reports is provided. On this basis, 3 consolidated reports are generated to reflect the status o f the procurement system at the national level: the Performance Assessment System (PAS) Report, the Performance Measurement Indicator (PMI) Report, and the Baseline Indicator System (BIS) Report. 15 3.17 The Performance Assessment System (PAS) Report 2006 groups the assessment results into the areas o f Management Systems, Information & Communication, Procurement Process, and Contract Management. Some major problems are addressed inthe 2006 PAS report: Most o f the procurement departments were under-resourced and brought into the picture when all decisions were already made. Very few entities had appeals and complaints mechanisms. Information on contracts was scattered among different departments. Interpretation and application o f fair criteria for selection o f bidders and use o f the Margin o f Preference was considered problematic. Contract awards are only published to some extent and not in a timely manner. Contract Administration was scored lowest with major insufficiencies in the areas o f planning and mobilization, implementation, supervision and reporting particularly with procurement of works. For details, refer to Nationwide Procurement Assessment Report 2006, Chart 4.6 3.18 The PerformanceMeasurementIndicator(PMI) Report 2006 presents percentages or number o f days for 16 performance indicators. Some o f the indicators are used to report on triggers in the context o f the MDBSPAF 2006 - 2008 Assessment Government's Reform Strategy and Progress Indicators namely a) use of appropriate procurement method and b) publication o f tender notices (NCB & ICBs). For details, refer to Nationwide Procurement Assessment Report 2006, Table 5.7 3.19 The BaselineIndicator System (BIS) Report 2006 is produced at the national level by technically linking the KPC's with the OECD Baseline Indicators. For details refer to Nationwide Procurement Assessment Report 2006, Chart 1-3.* EVALUATION OFTHE GOVERNMENT'S SELF-ASSESSMENT Approachof the independentreview 3.20 The independent review o f the Governments self-assessment was carried out in the context o f the ERPFMmission that took place from M a y 2 to 16, 2007. To review and analyze the results o f the Government's self-assessment, data and information were collected and triangulated through: 0 Meetings with the Public Procurement Board (including presentation o fthe PPMETool) 0 Interviews with 7 procurement entities indifferent sectors at MDA and MMDA level Interviews with other stakeholders (Ministry o f Finance, Internal Audit Agency, Ghana Audit Service, Private and Professional Sector Representatives, civil society institutions, donors) 0 Desk studies (Legislation, audit guidelines andreports, CPAR 2004, 3-year-action plano f Public Procurement Board) and 0 Check o f data entry (randomly) 'Nationwide Nationwide ProcurementAssessment Report 2006, Chart 4 ProcurementAssessment Report 2006, Table 5 Nationwide ProcurementAssessment Report2006, Charts 1-3 16 3.21 When interviewing the aforementioned procurement entities, a standardized question guide was used (see Annex 3). Questions were addressed to management and staff involved in procurement. Procurement plans were sighted, evaluation grids were checked for any contradictions and plausibility o f rating and data entered on the contracts sheets were randomly checked to review the reliability o f data. At the PPA, data entry was checked on the basis o f a randomly picked sample o f 6 individual assessment reports. 3.22 This review i s based on data made available duringthe assessment. Due to the timeframe given, the validation was based on a limitednumber o f randomly selected procurement entities, evaluation grids, contract files and contract sheets. As to the Key Performance Indicators, the average rating o f each KPC was not made available duringthe assessment. This fact reduced the potential to analyze and m h e r use the results o f the assessment in qualitative terms. Finally, it has to be noted that the assessment o f the IT structure and IT features o f the PPME tool was not part o f the assignment. REVIEW OF METHODOLOGY, COVERAGE, SAMPLING, RELEVANCE AND RELIABILITY OFDATA 3.23 From inspection o f the individual assessment reports, it became clear that the assessors had a difficult task in accessing the required information in the given timeframe (2 days, 2 assessors per entity). During discussions with PPA it was agreed that the instructions could have been more comprehensive. Moreover, PPA also indicated that fbture recruitments will more carefblly consider the skills o f the assessors and make sure that they are qualified to lift the task. According to PPA, the assessors were paid US$ 200 per day which i s considered to be adequate for attracting suitably qualified consultants. 3.24 The intention o f the self-assessment 2006 was to achieve a nationwide coverage. However, 75 percent o f the entities selected (159) are based in Accra and the Greater Accra Region. Only 25 percent (54) entities were selected from the other nine regions o f the country. Accordingly a slight bias towards the Greater Accra region can be assumed. 3.25 The size o f the entity's budget or actual amount spent on procurement was not included as a selection criterion. Moreover the annual procurement volume o f the entities assessed was not identified duringthe assessment. Hence, from the 2006 Nationwide Procurement Assessment and due to the lack o f nationwide procurement statistics, it is not possible to quantify the coverage in percent (ratio between annual procurement volume o f entities assessed vs. national procurement volume per year). 3.26 Within each entity, and with the aim at receiving quantitativeperformancedata that could be extrapolated, the assessors were assigned to analyze 10 contracts, regardless o f the size o f the entity and its annual procurement volume. The review revealed that in some cases, the contracts selected were o f very low value and often did not show a spread to cover goods, works and services (see Annex 5 Review o f Contracts Sheet). As a consequence, it later needs to be discussed ifthe random samplingwas o f sufficient size as to ensure that the data collected can be seen as representative. 17 3.27 Ingeneral, the Key Performance Indicators (KPC's) and the Performance Measurement Indicators (PMI) used in the PPME tool, are considered relevant for assessing compliance and performance o f procurement entities. The KpC's provide a basis for measuring qualitative data that goes beyond the OECD methodology. The PMI's used are not fully aligned with the OECD methodology but several indicators correspond to the OECD compliance and performance indicators for quantitative measurement. 3.28 However, when reviewing how the indicator system was applied on the ground, some challenges become clear. With regard to KPC, some indicators appear to be difficult to apply at the procurement entity level and sometimes were not rated, for example: "1E6 Private Sector make use o f complaints or protests mechanisms", "2C1 A proper and comprehensive analysis is undertakento guarantee social, environmental and economic impact "1B3 Sufficiently trained auditors on procurement procedures and quality systems to ensure compliance", "1E3 Procurement Entity has a clear understanding o f the review process inaccordance with the law". PPAhas already identified the needto refine some o fthe KPC's. 3.29 With regard to PMI's, some indicators need clarification as already agreed upon with PPA. Two examples are providedinTables 3.1 and 4.1 below: Table3.1: Example1 PerformanceMeasurementIndicator (PMI) No. 1 - $ 1v I i I I 1. Advertisement of S;of open bidding Yes`No Number of`\I'es/'litial 46,74 3.30 The Metric and the Formula are contradictory. Ifthe indicator is expected to measure the degree to which all cases which are classified as open tender are publicly advertised, the formula needed to be "Number o f AdvertisementslNo. o f Open bidding procedures". If the indicator i s expected to measure the percentage o f contracts that has been publicly advertised in relation to all contracts awarded, then the metric needs to be adjusted. 18 Table 3.2: PerformanceMeasurementIndicator (PMI) No. 6 3.31 The Break down o f Procurement Methods presented under column 4 of table 3.2 above does not fully correspond to the Procurement Methods defined inAct 663 Part IV -Methods of Procurement: 0 Competitive Tendering (Section 35) 0 Two-Stage Tendering (Section 36) 0 Restricted Tendering (Section 38) 0 Single-source procurement (Section 40) 0 Request for Quotations (Section 42) 3.32 According to Act 663, Part V - Tendering Procedures, National competitive Bidding and International competitive Bidding are defined as tendering procedures. "Methods to procure consultants" are dealt with separately under Part VI. For P M I No. 6, to split up competitive tendering only into ICT and N C T however would not satisfy consulting services for which competitive tendering i s defined the default method in Act 663. Therefore it i s not clear how consulting services are reflected inthe evaluation ofprocurement methods. 3.33 "Two-Stage Tendering" has most likely not been used much but for the sake o f completeness should be listed. Besides, according to the footnotes added by PPA in the self- assessment report, prequalification, shopping and selective tendering shouldbe revised. 3.34 With regard to reliability of data, as for the PMI system, the objective was to assess 10 contracts per entity. As mentioned, only few service contracts were included, the average amount o f contracts assessed was generally low, in one case very low compared to the overall procurement budget (Volta River Authority). Several o f the contract sheets reviewed were incomplete in the sense that (i)less than the ten recommended contracts had been assessed and (ii) ofthedatarequiredfortheindividualcontractswasmissing.(SeeAnnex6Reviewof several Contracts Sheet). 19 3.35 As part o f the evaluation, a random sample o f 6 individual assessment reports were checked for consistency between the information filled in by hand by the assessors and the information typed into the Excel based systemby the data clerks. This check revealednot major deviations and it i s therefore assumed that the process o f data entry was generally sound and well carried outg ANALYSISOFTHE GOVERNMENT'S FINDINGS 3.36 This final section presents an assessment of the findings o f the Nationwide Procurement Assessment Report 2006, including the coherence between findings and conclusions and coherence with information obtained from other stakeholders. The analysis o f the findings i s presented separately for each o fthe reports below: 3.37 PerformanceAssessment System (PAS) Report 2006. The findings o f the PAS Report 2006 are credible given information received from other sources such as interviews with procurement entities and the private sector and considering the publicly accessible web-site of PPA. However, for validating the findings at the KPC level, a report showing the average ratings o f each Key Performance Indicator would have been necessary but was not made available. 3.38 With a view to delivering compliance and performance data on an aggregate national level, the Procurement Assessment System (PAS) report would provide robust data to constitute a baseline for qualitative performance measurement. Alignment with the OECDDAC Baseline Indicators could be achieved by displaying the average rating o f each KPC and then linkingthe KPC's to the relevant OECD Baseline Indicators. Inconsequence, the Ghanaian Key Performance Indicator system would deliver a unique range o f qualitative compliance and performance indicators. 3.39 As for the Procurement MeasurementIndicator (PMI) report, it has been assessed, that the validity o f the findings o f the self-assessment and subsequently the possibility to extrapolate them to the total number o f procurement cases at (i) the procurement entity level and (ii) nationwide i s limited. The results are difficult to compare and difficult to aggregate because o f the following reasons: 0 The random sample which was drawn is considered insufficient in size as to ensure that the data collected can be seenrepresentative. 0 The data collected and entered on the contracts sheets was offen incomplete and did frequently not reflect the actual data in the contract file (see Annex 6 Review o f the contract sheet). 0 As the aforementioned examples (PMI No. 1and No. 6) demonstrate, some formula need to be refined to ensure that valid results are exhibited. 3.40 The PMI indicator system however could be very useful to obtain countrywide quantitative results once sampling, relevance and reliability o f the data are improved and appropriate quality assurance i s ensured. The P M I indicators could then directly be related to the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, Takoradi Polytechnic, Obuasi Municipal Assembly, Techiman Municipal Assembly, Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council, andthe NationalYouth Council 20 OECD Baseline Indicators and could provide a range o f quantitative data as requested for inthe OECD methodology such as average number of tenders submitted,percentage o f payments made late, percentage o f decisions taken by the Appeals andComplaints Panel that are enforced, etc., 3.41 The third report generated at the national level, the PPME-Baseline Indicator System (BIS) report, shows the level of achievement bythe OECDDAC Pillars. However, as Figure3.1 below shows, there i s a significant discrepancy between data from this BIS report and those derived through the Joint Assessment (see Chapter 4) with the BIS report data showing a much more negative picture than the one reflected through the joint assessment. As mentioned, the BIS report i s solely generated by technically linking the KPCs with the OECD Baselines (refer to Annex 4 Linkage between KPCs and Baseline Indicators). However, the OECDDAC methodology requires a more comprehensive approach including desk studies, the use o f specified scoring criteria and triangulation with different stakeholders. After discussion o f the BIS report with PPA, both parties concluded that the operational relevance o f this third report could not be clearly identified and therefore PPA would discontinue this reporting module o f the PPME-tool. Figure3.1: Comparisonof BaselineIndicators,BIS andJointAssessment I JointAssessmnt BIS-score Lessons learned and further development and or improvement of the assessment framework 3.42 Overall, the PPME tool offers a good platform for tracking the performance o f the national procurement system. It could usefully be strengthened along the lines described above to reach its fullpotential for performancemeasurement at the national level. Inthis regard, 0 the PAS report would provide a robust baseline for qualitative performance measurement once the average rating of each Key Performance Criteria i s displayed and subsequently linked with the Baseline Indicators 21 e the PMI report would provide key quantitative indications o f the system's performance once sampling, relevance andreliability o f data are improved. 3-43 Measures to improve future assessmentsinclude: e Representative sampling e Appropriate qualification o f assessors (including procurement) e Comprehensive instructions for assessors e Sufficient time for assessments considering the size o f the procurement entity to be assessed e Quality control e When rolling out the self-assessment tool, ensure sequencing with capacity building initiatives and prioritize key procurement entities to achieve value for money and risk mitigation e Refinement o f the tool as elaborated inChapter 6. 4. FINDINGSOF PUBLIC PROCUREMENTASSESSMENT INTRODUCTION 4.1 As mentioned, Ghana has been one o f the pilot countries which have been cooperating with the OECDDAC Joint Venture for Procurement to develop good practices to improve outcomes o f development countries' public procurement systems. In 2006, the JV provided an assessment tool called "Methodology for Assessment o f National Procurement Systems". Inthe context o f the 2007 ERPFMReview, it was decided to apply this methodology for the first time inGhana. 4.2 The OECD methodology follows a two-step approach: Part Icovers the Baseline Indicators (BLIs) that deal with the formal and functional features o f the existing system. Part I1 covers the compliance/performance indicators (CPI's) that deal with monitoring performance data to determine the level o f compliance with the formal system. The two parts are designed to be appliedjointly or separately depending on the intended purpose and scope o f the assessment. The understanding is that the assessment will provide a basis upon which a country can formulate a capacity development plan to improve its procurement system as well as to establish a baseline against which future progress can be measured. It was agreed with the JV on Monitoring the Paris Declaration that the procurement baseline indicators would be used to monitor the qualitative procurement target o f the Paris Declaration (Target 2b)lO. Version 4 o f the methodology is presently beingpiloted in22 countries. 4.3 On this basis, ajoint assessment was carried out to evaluate the quality o f the functional and formal features o f the current system. The Government o f Ghana was mainly represented by loIndicator 2 Reliable country systems - Number o f partner countries that have procurement and public financial management systems that either a) adhere to broadly accepted good practices or b) have a reform program inplace to achieve these. Targets for 2010 for Procurement one-third o f partner countries move up at least one measure o n - the four-point scale used to assess performance for this indicator. (Scale D - i s equivalent to Score 0 - 3 by OECD with A, respectively, 3 indicating full achievement). 22 the Public Procurement Authority (PPA). The Ministry o f Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP), Ghana Audit Service (GAS) and Internal Audit Agency (IAA) were actively involved when assessing linkages betweenpublic procurement and public financial management and audit and control mechanisms. The Donor Group was ledby the World Bank, liaising with the MDBS sector lead for PFM, DFID-Ghana and with the Royal Danish Embassy to Ghana. The assessment was facilitated by a team o f consultants, funded by DANIDA, who also consulted with procurement entities, private and professional sector representatives and civil society organizations for triangulation of data. 4.4 The OECD Assessment Methodology provides 4 Pillars organized around 12 Indicators and 54 sub-indicators with defined scoring criteria. The scoring system ranges from 3 to 0 for each baseline sub-indicator, with 3 representing full achievement with the stated standard. Score 2 indicates that the system exhibits less than full achievement and needs some improvements in the area assessed. Score 1 indicates that substantive work i s needed to meet the standard and 0 indicates failure to comply with the proposedstandard. 4.5 Whilst the majority o f the scores were agreed by the joint team, there were some dimensions where agreement was not reached. These have been noted inthe detailed assessment o f each o f the 54 sub-indicators which i s presented below. OVERALLASSESSMENT 4.6 Overall the joint assessment team has concluded that the quality o f the Ghanaian public procurement system i s i s above average.l1As illustrated by Figure 4.1 below, which shows the scores aggregated at the pillar level, the strongest component o f the country's procurement system i s the legislative and regulatory framework which i s well within the norms with an average score o f 2.3. All other Pillars reach an average score o f 1.8. Figure4.1: Ghana'sPublicProcurementSystem, Scores aggregatedby Pillar LegislativeFramework Integrity Capacity Operations and Markets IITaking average as 1.5, the mid-point o f the OECDDAC scale, 23 4.7 The above "big picture" conclusions are based on a detailedjoint assessment at the sub- indicator level. About 30 percent o f the scores fully meet (score 3) the OECDDAC standards and another 41 percent less than hlly achieve (score 2) those standards. Additionally, about seven percent o f the sub-indicators (four intotal) fail to comply with the standards (score 0). The findings o f this detailed assessment are presented below. Annex 1provides an overview o f all scores at the sub-indicator level. LEGISLATIVE REGULATORYFRAMEWORK AND (PILLAR I) 4.8 A legislative and regulatory framework is the starting point for a sound governance system. This i s covered in Pillar Io f the OECDDAC Baseline Indicators. Pillar Iencompasses two indicators and covers the legal and regulatory instruments from the highest level (national law) down to detailed regulation, yocedures and bidding documents formally in use. The sub- indicators are individually scored. * 4.9 The legislative and regulatory framework inGhana can be characterized as follows: Indicator 1 - Public Procurement Legislative and Remlatorv Framework achieves the agreed standards and complies with applicable obligations The Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) provides the legal framework for public procurement. Supplementingregulations exist as a draft. For dissemination, the law, the regulations (draft) and supplementing documents have been published at the website o f the Public Procurement Board. In addition, several awareness workshops and a public forum focusing on "Public Procurement and Good Governance" (August 2006) were carried out. Conducting the self-assessment o f 213 procurement entities also fostered dissemination o f the new procurement legislation. Moreover, a comprehensive training program i s scheduled to be rolled-out this year focusing on procurement entities and other target groups. 0 The following areas have been assessedwith 0 or 1 indicating the need for improvement: o Indicator lb: Procurement Methods are defined indifferent parts o f the Act. (Part IV, V, VI) and contain many cross-references. Schedule 3 o f the Act refers to the procurement methods without fully reflecting them and introducing thresholds for advertisements at the same time thus creating a potential for misinterpretation (as indicated inthe self-assessment). o Indicator If: As for tender evaluation and award criteria, the effect o f acceptance o f the tender on balance o f payment positions and foreign reserves, etc. are assessed to bevague andhave limitedrelevance to aprocurementdecision. Indicator 2 - Existence o f Implementing Regulations andDocumentation Model tender documents, Procedures for pre-qualification, a Procurement Manual and General Conditions o f Contract exist and are publicly available from the PPA website at no cost. 0 Implementing regulations supplementing the law exist only as a draft. 24 4.10 Table 4.1 presents the detailedassessment results for Pillar I. Table 4.1: Summary of BLIs in Legislative and Regulatory Framework (Pillar I) Baseline Indicator Status and Trend :'onirnents from PPA PiUl I-Legislativeand RegulatoryFramework -. II. .".".- * 1) The public procurement legislative and regulatory framework. The Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) provides the legal framework for public procurement inGhana. The Act applies to the procurement o f goods, works and services, financed inwhole or inpart from public funds except where the Minister decides that it i s in the national interest to use a different procedure. It applies to central management agencies; government ministries, departments and agencies; subvented agencies; government institutions; state owned enterprises to the extend that they utilise public funds; public universities, public schools, colleges and hospitals; the Bank o f Ghana and specified financial institutions which are wholly owned by the State or inwhich the State has majority interest; institutions established by Government for the general welfare o f the public or 1-a) - Scope o f community. Where the Minister decides that it is lpplication and inthe national interestto use a different ,overage o f the procedure, the Minister shall define and publish -egulatory framework inthe Gazettethe methodo fprocurement to be 2 indpublic access to followed inorder to serve the interest o f ,egislation.. economy (Scope o f application: see section 14). The legislative framework i s adequately recorded inThe Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), standard biddingdocuments and manuals. The hierarchy o f the legislative instruments i s not explicitly stated but this issue is expected to be dealt with inthe preamble o f the upcoming regulations. Amendments to Act 663 have beenprepared (see Chart o f Proposed Amendments to the Public Procurement Act). The Regulations-PPA, 2003 (Act 663) exist only as a draft (scored under Indicator 2 a). Administrative rulings and directions under the Act are to be made accessible to the public as per Section 95 o f Act 663. The Act, regulations (draft) and the manual is published on the PPA website which i s accessible to the public at no cost. 25 BaselineIndicator Status andTrend Proposed score 2ommentsfromPPA Assessment: a substantially met, c met, b not met. Competitive Tendering i s defined as the default method. Parts IV and V o f Act 663 define methods and procedures for the procuremendtendering o f goods and works. In Part VI methods and procedures to procure consultants are defined. Schedule 3 (which gives a combined overview o fprocurement methods and thresholds) however does not hlly reflect the defined procurement methods thus creating a potential for misinterpretation (for example regarding Prequalification). Inparticular, Schedule 3 should list all defined procurement methods (including 2-stage-tendering and 1-b) - Procurement quality and cost basedmethod of selection, Theproposed amendment has methods. separating thresholds for advertising and 3 'aken care of thepotential selection procedures). A clarification o f this nisinterpretation. issue is expected inthe proposed amendment to the Act. Fractioning o f contracts to limitcompetition i s prohibited (section 21 (5)). Standards for international competitive bidding (section 45) are consistent with international standards. Assessment: a substantiallv met. b-dmet. Invitations to tender and invitations to pre- rn the Ghanaian context, the qualify above thresholds defined inSchedule 3 7eriod of 2-4 weeks allowedfor Act 663 are to be published inat least two VCT is adequatefor the types of newspapers and the Procurement Bulletin (the wocurement thatfall under this latter is planned to be launched by late August :ategory. The minimum of 4 2007) (Act 663, section 47). #eeks allowed under the IDA pidelines (which was used to Act 663, Section 53(2) specifies a maximumo f :udgeour timeframe) does not four weeks for preparation o f tenders under 'ake cognizance of country National Competitive Tendering (no minimum pecijk casescenarios. specified). The need for a minimumi s addressed Ac) - Advertising rn the case of Ghana, the rules and time limits. inaPublic Notice fromthe PPApublishedinthe 1 ninimum timeframe is applicable media on 16 December 2005 inwhich entities NCT andprice quotation. are directed to give a minimumo f two weeks to '0 both +ice quotation procurement submittenders under NCT andprice quotation. ieals mostly with ofthe shelf Moreover, a minimumo f 2 weeks for National :oods and materials, therefore a Competitive Bidding i s also expected to be ninimum of 2 weeks is very indicated inthe proposed amendment to the Act. *easonable. Thesame argument roesfor NCTprocurement that However, inthe assessor's opinion a minimum ieals withfairly simple o f two weeks i s not as a general rule sufficient vocurements. Entities can use time for potential bidders to obtain documents 'bur (4) weeks or morefor 26 BaselineIndicator Status and Trend Proposed score and respond to the advertisements. :omplex procurements. Also it is generally recommended that different Siven this background, we deem minimumrequirements be established for the 't that Criteria (b) has been met. if according respective procurement methods. Besides, toyour ?coring,a, c and d are met, how For International Competitive Bidding, at least 6 :ome we scored one (I)and not weeks shall be allowed for submission o f '2). tenders (section 45 (2c)). The "Particular Instructions to Applicants" o f the Standard Prequalification Documents and the Standard Tender Documents include specific qualification criteria and i s therefore assessedto include sufficient information to allow bidders to determine their interest and ability inbidding. Assessment: a, c and d met, b not met. Participation o f any contractor or supplier i s to be based on qualification and appropriate financial and legal capacity (Act 663 sections 22,32,3q). The shortlist for consulting services may comprise only national consultants Act 663 section 67 (2). Eligibility clause instandard 4s was explained during the letter for expressions o f interest should be zssessment, Act 663 applies the clarified (see also If). lame rules to allprospective ruppliers. Sovernment owned enterprises l-d) Rules on - Supplier registration i s not requiredby law. 'herefore do not enjoy any Iarticipation and Suppliers and contractors can be debarred in 2 pecial dispensations and palitative selection case o f criminal or corrupt practises (sections 3g, 91). !herefore no special rules were reeded to cover them. Act 663 does not provide rules for the participation o f government owned enterprises We therefore recommend that that would establish a fair level playing field in :riteria (d) is not relevant and case government enterprises compete with the rhould be deleted. private sector. Assessment: a substantially met, b and c met; d not met. The legislative framework establishes the minimumcontent o ftender documents Act 663 -e)- Tender (sections 48, 50, 68) and requires neutral locumentation and specification (or equivalent) and international echnical technical standards biddingdocuments and pecifications. manuals Act 663 45 (2) d, 33 (2). 3 Assessment: a-c met. 27 BaselineIndicator Act 663 section 48 defines contents o f invitation During thejoint assessment it to tender and invitation to pre-qualify at the waspointed out that the same time (without distinction). yualifications under Sections 59(4)(c) and 69(2)(c) Act 663 section 59 (4)(c) and 69 (2)(c) define lotwithstanding, Act 663 that to determine the lowest evaluated tender, pequires that all evaluation the procurement entity shall consider the effect :riteria is PRE-DISCLOSED to the acceptance o f the tender will have on (i) zll Tenderers and that award balance o f payment position and foreign will be based solely on the stated Exchange reserves, (ii) countertrade 1 :riteria. arrangements offered, etc. (iii These - vii). This requirement is incorporated zriteria are assessedto be vague and not relevant in all our standard Tender to a procurement decision. Documents. Subjectivejudgment was applied The StandardTender Documents (STD) include by the assessors. provisions regarding pasdfail criteria. 1-f) - Tender We wish to state that the criteria :valuation and award The evaluation o fproposals for consulting Tor determining the lowest :riteria services gives adequate importance to quality evaluated responsive bidder has and regulates how price and quality are aational and economic considered. considerations and as a yovereign state, we deem it Assessment: relevant in deciding on the apartially met; b, c and d met; professional zward criteriafor certain major judgement applied contracts especially in bilateral developmentprojects. Once those conditions arepre- disclosedprior to the award of contracts, it is deemed to be relevant to aprocurement decision and therefore satisfies criteria (a)fully. We expect to have thefull score $3 for this sub-indicator. The legal framework provides for appropriate public opening procedures (Act 663 sections 56 (2) for goods and 73 (5) for services). Opening immediately follows the closing date for submission. Records o f opening proceedings are retained and available for review (sections 28, 56 (5)). 1-g)- Submission, .eceipt and opening o f Confidentiality o fbids i s maintained and 3 enders disclosure o f sensitive debriefing i s prohibited (sections 63, 65 (9), 77 (1)). The modality o f submitting tenders is well defined to avoid unnecessary rejection o ftenders (section 53 (6)). Assessment: a-dis met. 28 BaselineIndicator Status andTrend Proposed score CommentsfromPPA The legal framework provides for the right to review for participants in a procurement process Act 663 20 (2e), 78 - 80). However, there are several exceptions specified inAct 663 section 78 (2) weakening this right. Not subject to a review are method o f l-h)-Complaints procurement under section 35 to 43, choice o f system structure and selectionprocedure under section 75 or 76, 2 sequence limitation o f procurement proceedings (nationality) and a decision by the procurement entity under section 29 to reject tenders, proposals, offers or quotations. Assessment: a partially met, all other scoring criteria met, professional judgement applied. 2) Implementing Regulationsand Documentation Act 663 section 97 mandates the Minister, in consultation with the Board, to make regulations by legislative instrument to give effect to the purposes o f the Act 663. 2-a) - Implementing There are no regulations that supplement and regulation that detail the provisions o f the procurement law in Regulation awaiting provides defined Ghana. A draft (Regulations-PPA, 2003 (Act 0 7arliamentary approval. Score processes and 663)) exists and has been made available at the will automatically changefrom 0 procedures. PPA website "PPAghana.org" for comments. to 3 upon approval. During2007, the draft regulations will be tabled before Parliament. Assessment: a, b and c not met. As per Act 663 section 3c 3h and 97, a set o f model tender documents (17) has been made available by PPA for a range o f goods, works and services. The standard clauses are in 2-b) - Model tender agreement with the legal framework. The documents for goods, Minister inconsultation with the Board i s 3 works, and services. responsible for updating o f these instruments. Assessment: a, b, and c met. 29 Baseline Indicator Status and Trend Proposed score Zornments from PPA Pre-qualification procedures are defined inAct 663 section 23 (2), Schedule 3. Schedule 3 gives guidance (thresholds) on when to apply a pre- 2-c) -Procedures for qualificationprocedure. Section 23 defines the pre-qualification, pre-qualification proceedings. 3 Assessment: a, b, and c met. The legal framework provides clear procedures for when assessment based on technical capacity 2-d) - Procedures for is appropriate. contracting for services or other Italso stipulates methodologies for the requirements inwhich assessment o f technical capacity and combing it 3 technical capacity i s a with price and quality considerations (sections key criterion. 72 (I), 75). Assessment: a and b met. A unique 132-page procurement manualwas issued in2006 (Public Procurement Manual). Responsibility for maintenance o f the manual i s defined (Act 663 section 3c and 3h). Since it 2-e) -User's guide or was released in2006, there was no need for manual for updating yet. The manual "provides guidelines 3 contracting entities. and step by step procedures to assist procurement entities to undertake procurement inaccordance withthe Act". Assessment: a, b, and c met. There are General Conditions o f Contract (GCC) I 2-0 - Existence and for most common types o f contract and their use coverage o f General is mandatory (Act 663 section 50, Schedule 4). Conditions o f The content o f the GCC is generally consistent Contracts (GCC) for with internationally accepted practice. 3 public sector Gontracts. Assessment: a and b met. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK MANAGEMENT AND CAPACITY (PILLAR 11) 4.11 Pillar I1looks at how the procurement system as defined bythe legal and regulatory framework i s operating inpractice. 3 indicators assess the institutions and management systems that are part o f the overall public sector governance of the country. Indicator 3 deals with the 30 degree o f integration o f the procurement system with other parts o f government and particularly with the financial management system from budget preparations to treasury operations for payments o f contractors. Indicator 4 focuses on the existence o f a normative/regulatory body, its policy and guidance functions and Indicator 5 assesses the extent to which the country has systems to support and monitor the performance o f the entire system and to formulate and implement improvement plans. 4.12 To summarize the findings o f the assessment for Pillar I1the following areas can be highlighted: Indicator 3: The public procurement system i s mainstreamed and well integrated into the public sector governance system 0 For budget preparation and in accordance with Act 663, procurement plans are to be prepared and submittedto the MoFEP prior to the endo f the fiscal year for approval. 0 The need for the preparation o fprocurement planswas emphasized inMarch 2007 bythe MoFEP in a letter sent to all procurement entities. To date there has been no thorough scrutiny o f the plans and hence no systematic quality assurance or analysis for statistical purposes. 0 Indicator 3d has been assessed 0 since a feed-back mechanism that ensures that information on contracts covering major budget expenditures i s provided to the budgetary and financial management systems in a timely manner to support public financial management does not exist generally. It shall be noted that procurement planning is one o f the modules o f the forthcoming training program. Besides, PPA is inthe process o f rolling out a web-based procurement planningsoftware. Indicator 4: The country has a functional and normative/regulatory body 0 All sub-indicators o f indicator 4 have been assessedhighest (full achievement) since the normative and regulatory functions are well established and assigned. The Public Procurement Board has clearly defined responsibilities. It i s an autonomous body and its finances are secured inthe legal framework. Indicator 5: Existence o f institutional development capacity 0 The objective o f indicator 5 i s to assess the extent to which the country has systems to support and monitor the performance o f the entire system and to formulate appropriate improvement plans. As further elaborated inChapter 5 Outstanding Challenges, indicator 5 has been assessedlowest. Whereas the foundation for training o f procurement entity/management staff and other stakeholders such as auditors and private sector has been established, the training program i s still to be rolled out. 0 As for providing and collecting procurement information, due to the outstanding launch o f the Procurement Bulletin and due to the lack o f aggregate national procurement 31 statistics, the scores o f sub-indicator 5 a and 5b indicate that substantial work still needs to be done inthis regard. It shall be noted that PPA intends to use the aforementioned web-based e-procurement planning software for generating nationalprocurement statistics. 0 Some quality standards for processing procurement activities are defined in the Procurement Manual such as estimated lead time for the preparation of tender documents, tender evaluation, etc. However, there was no evidence that these standards are used for procurement staffperfonnance evaluation. 4.13 Table 4.2 presents the assessment results for Pillar I1indetail. Table 4.2: SummaryofBLIs inInstitutionalFrameworkand ManagementCapacity(Pillar 11) Baseline Indicator Status and Trend Commentsfrotn PPA Pillar 11. InstitutionalFramework and M tcity 3) Integrationand mainstreamingof the public procurement systemintothe public sector governance system. 4ccording to Act 663 section 21, xocurement plans are to be prepared and submitted to the EntityTender Committee m e month prior to the end of the fiscal year for approval. After budget approval and at quarterly intervals, each procurement entity shall submit an update to the Tender Zommittee. 3-a) -Procurement 4 s o f February 2007, only 22 procurement planning and data Aans hadbeen provided to the Ministryof on costing are part Finance (MoFEP) and the PPA (see Thefairly good comment and o f the budget issessment ofprogress, PRSC-5). Key observation do notjustifj, the formulation and MDAswere not included. InMarch2007 low score of I. multiyear planning. MoFEP sent a letter to all procurement mtities emphasizing that these procurement ilans shall be submitted to the MoFEP and a :opy shall be sent to the PPA for quality issurance. Moreover, the 2008 budget ;ircular emphasizes the importance of imely presentation of procurement plans in he context o f the budget preparation. h e of the major goals of PPA (see Draft 32 Baseline Indicator Proposed score Strategic Plan 2007 - 2009, objective no. 9) i s to develop and implement a web-based software package for procurement planning, recordingand management by June 2007. Assessment: Although significant efforts have been made to get MDA's to submit their procurement plans as part o fbudget preparation, there i s no evidence that this has materializedfully. A score o f2 requires that the majority o f procurementplans are preparedbased on the annual and multiyear operating plans and that they are revisedto meet the forward budget estimates before expenses are committed. Therefore, score 1describes the current situation best. InGhana, budget funds are allocated through Appropriation Billbefore the end of the fiscal year (see Financial Administration Act). 3-b)-Budget law and financial Published Business Standards for processing procedures support of invoices exist (see section 3 o fthe timely procurement, Treasury RealignmentBusiness Processes). 2 :ontract execution, Authorization o f payments usually requires andpayment. more than 4 weeks. Assessment: a and b met, professional judgement applied. Budget funds are approved by January lst, procurementplans are to be adjusted accordingly (Act 663, section 21 (3)). Monthly cash ceilings are defined. 3-c) - Procurement ictions not initiated A system that ensures that no initiation o f without budget procurement actions takes place before 2 ippropriations. budget appropriationi s yet to be made hlly operational. Assessment: a met, b not fully met. 33 BaselineIndicator Neither the Financial Administration Act and the Internal Audit Agency Act nor Act 3-d) - Systematic 663 define the required feed-back completion reports mechanism to ensure that information o f are prepared for contracts covering major budget certification o f expenditures i s provided to the budgetary budget execution and financial management systems in a and for timely manner to support overall public 0 reconciliationo f financial management. delivery with budget Possibly, the web-based software for programming. procurement planning, recording and management could be used to feed-back this information inthe future. 4) Normative and regulatory functions. 4-a) - Part Io f Act 663 details the establishment of Normativehegulator the Public Procurement Board and specifies y functions are that it i s a body corporate. An amendment to established and the Act has been drafted including a assigned (to one or proposal to rename PPB to Public 3 several agencies) in Procurement Authority. the legislative and regulatory framework. Section 3 o f Act 663 specifies the functions o f the board which include the responsibility 4-b) -The to responsibilities provide advise, section 3 (1) include at least -- draft amendments, section 3 (c) those required in monitor, section 3 (d) this sub indicator -- collect procurement information and 3 (see description o f statistics, section 3 (0 the indicators and - report to the Minister o f Finance, sub-indicators) - section 3 (i) support initiatives for improvement, section 3 (a-d) 4-c) -Adequacy o f The PPA i s an autonomous body (although organization, this is not explicitly stated inthe Act) and funding, staffing, its finances are secured inthe legal and level o f framework (section 10 o f Act 663). independence and 3 authority (formal power) to exercise the duties under (b). 34 BaselineIndicator StatusandTren Proposed score CommentsfromPPA 4-d) - Separation As per section 3 o fAct 663, the Boardis not and clarity so as to responsible for direct procurement avoid conflict o f transactions and its members are not interest and direct represented inany tender committees. The involvement inthe board does however take decisions 3 execution o f regarding approval o f single source and procurement restricted tendering as a prior review. The transactions. 2006 Annual Report lists decisions taken by the Board in2006. 5. Institutional development capacity. The Procurement Bulletin i s not yet launched (as requiredby section 47 o f Act 663; 3 (0)and its productioni s plannedto 5-a) - System for initiated late inAugust 2007. collecting and disseminating Currently, the PPA Internet site serves as procurement the main one-stop service for procurement 1 information and information. Access to the web-site i s free accessibility. to the public. The web-site has information on tenders and opportunities. While the site is comprehensive, contract awards are not published systematically and no information on procurement plans i s available. The PPA i s inthe process o f implementinga system for capturingrelevant procurement information and aggregating it at the national level. The system i s web-based and is expected to facilitate electronic entry o f procurement plans at the entity level which inturnwillbe usedbyPPAto aggregate national statistics. 5-b) - Systems and procedures for Inadditionthe PPAhas developed a Collecting and monitoring tool (Public Procurement Model monitoringnational o f Excellence, PPME) which collects data 1 procurement tkom procurement entities on compliance statistics. 2ndperformance. This tool is already 3perational and PPA has covered more than 200 entities at the time o f the 2006 messment. The assessors were not able to obtain widence o f national, aggregate statistics for volume and number o f contracts per xocurement entity, and volume and number Ifprocurementsperprocurement method. 35 Baseline Indicator Status and Trend Proposed score Comments from PPA N o statistical analysis o f information i s routinely carried out, published and fed back into the system. Assessment: a, b and c partially met, d not met, professionaljudgkment applied. Following a 2005 Training Needs Assessment commissioned by PPA together with the Internal Audit Agency and the Accountant-General's Department, the Authority has taken steps to develop short term training materials fori) members o f entity tender committees, ii)private sector, iii)independentandnationaloversight mechanisms, general public and the media, and iv) procurement units. The training materials will be the basis for a training program to be rolled out inAugust 5-c) - Strategy and 2007. The components o fthe program training capacity to address 25 different modules ina logic way. provide training, Each o f the above mentioned groups will be zdvice and subjected to different combinations o f these 2 assistance to modules, except the procurement units develop the which will follow all modules. The initial Sapacity. training o f trainer's phase, to be done by GIMPA and Crown Agents, is yet to start at the time o f assessment (therefore a revision was not yet relevant). According to information providedby PPA, a unique help-desk-service has been established. Since this information was provided after the assessment was finished, it couldnotbe verified ifthe help-desk is operational and providing advisory services for public or private sector parties. Assessment a met; b and c not met. 36 BaselineIndicator Proposed score C A monitoring system for procurement activities i s described inthe "Benchmarking, Monitoring& Evaluation Manual". Monitoring and Evaluation practices will follow established standards, ensuring credibility, impartiality, transparency and usefulness o f findings (see GuidingPrinciples, bullet iii). Performance standards are spelled out inthe Procurement Manual. Moreover, the PPA shouldbe commended for inauguratinga Wedid emphasizeat thejoint technical working group that led to the assessment that staflappraisal production o f the October 2006 report and evaluation is done by each "Establishment o f a Career Path and Career Entity on general evaluation Development o f Procurement Professionals guidelines with each and Practitioners inthe Public/ Civil department/division having to assess their staff on their i-d) -Quality Service". The report, currently with the specific duties. Procurement :ontrol standards Office o f the Heado f the Civil Service, Managers/Supewisors would md staff provides for a comprehensive approach to therefore assess their )erformance the development o fa procurement cadre and 1 subordinates on the basis of :valuation for i s expected to be filly implemented inthe theirjobperformance at which :apacity coming years. The report also makes ievelopment. reference to career progression criteria point the issues outlined in the (section 4.0 of Annex 1) and makes explicit Manual will be the guiding reference to the importance o f staff principles. performance appraisal reports inthis context. Criteria (b) which seeks to zero in on specific However, the assessors were not able to procurement appraisalformat obtain documentary evidence whether the should be reviewed or deleted standards outlined inthe Manual and the altogether. Report are currently being used systematically for purposes o f staff performance. Likewise, the assessors did not obtain evidence o f any operational audits carried out regularly to monitor compliance with quality standards. Assessment a met; b and c not met. PROCUREMENTOPERATIONAND MARKET PRACTICE(PILLAR 111) 4.14 Pillar I11looks at the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the procurement system at the level o f the implementing entity responsible for issuingindividual procurement actions. It 37 looks at the market as one means o f judging the quality and effectiveness o f the system. Pillar I11consists of 3 indicators. Indicator 6 looks at the efficiency of operations as implementedby the procuring agencies. Indicator 7 assesses the functionality o f the public procurement market. Indicator 8 deals with the existence o f contract administration and dispute resolution provisions. 4.15 The following findings inassessing Pillar I11should be emphasized: Indicator 6: The countries procurement operations andpractices are efficient Indicator 6a dealing with the level o f procurement competence among government officials, has been assessed 1: According to an institutional skills and training needs assessment which was carried out in 2006, there i s a lack o f understanding o f the procurement law among all levels o f staff in the MDA's and MMDA's. Consequently, the aforementioned holistic and comprehensive short-term training program was developed in 2006. While the developed modules for Short-term training appear to be adequate, in terms o f content and frequency more effort is needed on a sustainable basis (offered by training institutions). 0 Besides, according to the PPA 2006 Annual Report, a comprehensive report for the establishment o f a career path for procurement professionals has been submitted to the office o f the head o f the civil service. It is expected that it will be implemented in the course o f 20071 2008. The proposal provides for a two tier (managerial and technical), five-step structure and with clear indications o f the requirements for progression through the steps andthe corresponding salary levels (levels 4-12 for technical staff and levels 10- 18 for managerial staff). A career path for procurement professionals would provide for a professional incentive system and for a systematic matching o f skills against requirements for competitive recruitment. 0 Another indicator assessed 1 was indicator 6 c which deals with procurement record keeping. Act 663 does not explicitly mention some important documents that needto be filed such as tender amendments or contract amendments and there i s no evidence on how long these records need to be kept. There is no specific training module on procurement record keepinginthe forthcoming short-term training program. 0 One issue that was regularly addressed in interviews with procurement entities refers to sub-indicator 6d (delegation o f authority). The current authority for the Entity Tender Committees for decentralized procuring entities i s limited to about 25,000 US$ (equivalent) for goods and consulting services and about 50,000 US$ (equivalent) for works. The authority for District Tender Review Boards i s limited to about 100,000 US$/200,000 US$. Due to the defined composition o f higher level Tender Review Boards, meetings often do not take place timely causing delays to the procurement process. Indicator 7: Functionality o f the public procurement market 0 Ghana displays an increasingly vibrant private sector. However, the M S M E sector has limitedinternational market exposure and a lack of management capacity. This results in a limited number o f contractors that are in a position to compete for large-volume contracts. Currently, private enterprise associations do not play an active role in 38 disseminating the new procurement regulations to their members. Short-term training modules are plannedto be offered byPPA to the private sector. Indicator 8: Existence o f contract administration and dispute resolution provisions 0 Efficient contract management aims at hlfillment o f contractual obligations. From a buyer's perspective, it needs to make sure that goods, works and services agreed upon are delivered at the right time, at the right place and at the quality and price defined in the contract. According to the government's self-assessment however, the procurement process i s erroneously thought as o f having ended once the contract is signed. According to these findings, some entities do not have a clear understanding o f their roles and responsibilities in supervising works, some showed little interest in projects that were carried initiated from their Head Offices and project reports were typically filed and not read. Inthe Procurement Manual, contract administration procedures are elaborated and PPA plans to address this function vital for efficient contract implementation in the forthcoming short-term training. 4.16 Table 4.3 provides the assessment results for Pillar I11indetail: 39 Table 4.3: SummaryofBLI's inProcurementOperationsand MarketPractices(Pillar 111) Baseline indicator Status and Trend Proposed score 2omments from PPA Pillar III Procurement Operations andMarket Practt 6. Efficiency of procurement operations and Dractices. The October 2006 report "Establishment o f a Career Path andCareer Development of Procurement Professionals andPractitioners in the Publici Civil Service" proposes a two-tier, five step structure for procurement officers (page 4). Corresponding skills and competencies profiles are described inAnnex 2 o f the report. The report was prepared by a Technical Working Group inaugurated by the PPA. The comprehensive report has been submitted to the Office o f the Head o f the Civil Service for approval and PPA expects OHCS to follow this career path when recruitingprofessionals to the procurement profession. Although the skill base is adequate on the national scale, with respect to the current situation, the assessors did not obtain clear 6-a) - Adequacy o f evidence o f a systematic matching o f skills procurement against requirements for conipetitive competence among recruitment. The abovementioned report 1 government officials.appreciates the challenges o f the reform process and makes reference to "a lack o f recognition and appropriate placement o f procurement professionals inthe public/ civil service as a result o f the non-existence o f a structured procurement class inthe system". However, this picture is expected to change as the skills and knowledge profiles developed by PPA are introducedas a basis for new recruitments. An institutional skills and training needs assessment o f the existing cadre (Act 654, 658, 663) has been conducted inJuly 2006. One o f the major gaps identified was a lack o f understanding o f all 3 laws among all levels o f staff inthe MDA's and MMDA's. Page 4 o f the Career Path Report further reports that in some entities "the procurement function is performedby those inthe Supply and Materials Management Class, majority o f 40 BaselineIndicator StatusandTrend IProposed score CommentsfromPPA whom lack the relevant skills". These observations are also captured by the pilot assessment inthe individual Entity reports under the "areas requiring improvement" column o f the EvaluationGrid. They ledto the development o fo fthe comprehensive skills andcompetency Report which will guide all future recruitment o f procurement professionals into the Public Service. The major challenge that remains to be addressedis the fact that the Public Sector's pay and terms o f Employment do not support the engagement o f highly skilledand competent procurement officials. The issue is however receiving government's attention. Inconclusion, the evidence doesnot support the notionthat staff tasked to do procurement activities on and ad-hoc basis would have the necessaryskills to do so. Assessment: a met; b and c not met. GIMPA andCROWN Agents have been commissioned to developmodules for short term procurement training which are basedon a prior training needs assessment. While the program appears to be adequate interms o f content and frequency more effort is neededto offer procurement courses on a sustainable basis (offered by training institutions). It shouldbe notedthat GIMPA offers a numberofmediumandlong-term procurement relatedcourses (Bachelor, Diploma andHigherNationalDiplomaTop 6-b)-Procurement Up inProcurement and Materials training and Management). The curricula are assessedto be information o f good quality. GIMPA's highstanding is 2 programs supported by the fact that underthe Millennium Challenge Account, there is a separatecomponent inplace providing hnding for GIMPA scholarships. Besides GIMPA, other tertiary training institutions have received accreditation to run a Bachelor and Masters program in Procurement andLogistics/Supply Chain, respectively. Also, four (4) states Polytechnics are offeringPurchasing & Supply HigherNationalDiplomaprograms. The curricula ofthese programs have jointly beenreviewedbyGhana Institute of Purchase I 41 I BaselineIndicator StatusandTrend Proposed score Comments fromPPA & SupplyChainandNational Boardfor Technical & Vocational Examinators. However, the assessorswere not able to obtain evidence o f regular information and training programs for the private sector to be capable to meet the public procurement requirements e.g. tender preparation, contract management, right to review. Assessment a met, b and c not met. The legalhegulatory framework defines the procurement records which are to be kept at the operational level (Act 663, section 28 (1)). 4s a nation, we do have apolicy 6r retention of documents. This 6-c) -Norms for the Section 28 (1) does not explicitly mention 7olicy is not specific to safekeeping o f public notices o f biddingopportunities, wocurement document records and biddingdocuments and addenda and final retention, therefore it is documents relatedto signed contract documents and addenda and 1 wggested theparticular criteria transactions and amendments. Also there is no reference to dealing withprocurement contract retentionpolicy for procurement records in document retention should be management. Act 663 or inthe Public Records and Archives revised. Emphasis should be on Act (Act 535). Zood record keeping and easy retrieval. Assessment: a met; b, c, and d not met. Schedule 3 defines thresholds for review and approval authority o f EntityTender Committees. Above these thresholds, decisions are subject to concurrent ('ho objection") approval by Tender Review Boards (District Tender Review Boards, Ministerial and Regional Tender Review Boards, Central Tender Review Boards, Act 663, Section 17(2) (c)). Due to the composition o f the higher level Tender 6-d) - Provisions forReview Boards, meetings are not held timely delegation o f enough to avoid delays and congestions. The 2 This indicator in our opinion is authority. proposed amendments to Act 663 are expected %lly met. to address this issue. The current authority for the EntityTender Committees for decentralised procuring entities is limited to about 25.000 US$ (equivalent) for goods and consulting services, and about 50.000 US$ (equivalent) for works. The authority for District Tender Review Boards i s limited to about 100,000 US$ (equivalent) for goods and about 200,000 US$ 42 BaselineIndicator StatusandTrend Proposed score mmentsfrom (equivalent) for works (Act 663, Schedule 3- According to Act 663 15 (4), the heado f the entity stays accountable. Assessment: b andc met. 7. Functionality of the public procurement market. The Government encourages open dialogue with private sector. For example, inAugust 2006, a Public Procurement & Good Governance forum was held inAccra. There are Development Dialogues, an established public and private sector forum sponsored by the World Bank. In2006 PPA carriedout anumber of Theevidence assessorswere to workshops1trainings on Act 663. Specific cather during the assessment on sessions were arranged for, among others, the 'his indicator is notfeasible and Institution o f Engineers, the Ghana Employers chould therefore be deleted. 7-a) - Effective Association, Northernand Southern Sector o f PPA 's sensitization program nechanisms for the Association o f Ghana Industries, the 2nd engagements with the iartnerships between Private Enterprise Foundation, and Ghana Re- 2 Tenera1public, workshops and .hepublic and Insurance. rpecijk trainingprograms are irivate sector wough tofully satisfi this The Final Implementation Plan for Delivery o f hdicator. Short-Term Procurement Training Modules to be rolled out inAugust 2007 includes Wetherefore believe criteria C providers o f goods, services and works. :s met. The assessorsdidnot obtain evidence that mechanisms for public/private partnerships are well established inthe legal framework. Assessment: a and b met, c not met. 43 Baseline Indicator Status a Proposed score While Ghana displays an increasingly vibrant private sector, the competitiveness can still be further improved. This is particularly the case for the MSME sector which represents a third o f the workforce but accounts to only six 7-b)-Private sector percent of GDP according to the Project institutions are well Appraisal Document (PAD) for the World xganized andable Bank financed Micro, Small and Medium 2 ;o facilitate access to EnterpriseProject. The PAD also stresses the ;hemarket. limited internationalmarket exposure ofthe MSME sector, lack o f management capacity, their default incompliance with standards, and low quality products. This results ina limited number ofcontractors that are ina position to compete for large-volume contracts. Ghana's ranking inthe doing business indicators is on a positive trend. The country has moved up from 102 to 94 from 2005 to 2006. Besides, Ghana i s rated 50 among 175 7-c) - Systemic countries interms o f contracts enforceability. :onstraints inhibiting Still some constraints continue to inhibit ;he private sector's private sector access to the public :apacity to access procurement market, notably lack o f access to 2 :heprocurement credit among the MSME sector. This is narket. singledout as a major constraint inthe PAD for the MSMEproject which states that high interest rates and limitedaccess to medium- long term finance is a constraint for the MSMEs. 3. Existence of :ontract administration and jispute resolution provisions. The Procurement Manualdetails contract administrationprocedures including procedures for acceptance o fproducts and issuance o f contract amendments. 3-a) - Procedures are Model tender documents define quality Aearly defined for control procedures for goods and supervision indertaking contract o f civil works is canied out by qualified 2 idministration personnel. Clauses are generally consistent .esponsibilities with internationally acceptedpractices. However, prompt processing o f payments needs to be improved generally. Assessment: a, b, c and d met; e not met. 44 BaselineIndicator Status and Trend Proposed score C omPPA There is anArbitrationLaw inthe country (Arbitration Act 38, 1961). International arbitration for international competitive biddingis accepted and referredto instandard contract documents. Section 14o f Act 38 addresses the neutrality o f the arbitrators andthe Act provides for due process. It includes steps for appointment o f arbitrators (section 14) and enforcement o f 8-b) - Contracts their decisions (section 25(1) and (2)). include adequate However, the Act does not contain explicit disputeresolution provisions for expediency; consistency with 2 procedures. generally acceptedpractices can therefore not be assessed. Provisions for Alternative Dispute Resolution are described inAct 38. The standard tender documents contain clauses on arbitration, which have beenmodelled on those inuse by the World Bank. Assessment: a, c, d ande met; b not met. The country is memberofthe New York Convention on enforcement o f international arbitration awards (Art.38 ADL). Act 38, section 29 provides procedures for Lack of disputes and non- enabling the winner ina dispute to seek existence of complaints in the 8-c) -Procedures enforcement o f the outcome by goingto the Entities assessed should not exist to enforce the courts. result in a low score. On the outcome o f the 2 contrary, we should be dispute resolution The assessors didnot obtain evidence ofthe commendedfor recording nil process. existence o f a process to monitor the outcome complaints especially in the o f dispute resolution process and to address light of the existence of a performance issues. comprehensive review process under Act 663. Assessment: a andb met, c not met. Integrity and Transparency of the Public Procurement System (Pillar Iv 4.17 Pillar IV covers 4 indicators that measure the degree to which the system operates with integrity, has appropriate controls to support implementation in accordance with the legal and regulatory framework and has appropriate measures in place to address the potential for corruption. It includes stakeholders as part o f the control system. This Pillar takes aspects of the procurement system and governance environment and seeks to ensure that they are defined and 45 structured to contribute to integrityand transparency. Indicator 9 assesses the effectiveness o f the control and audit systems. Indicator 10 deals with a range o f specific issues regarding efficiency o f appeals mechanisms. Indicator 11 covers the quality, relevance, ease o f access and comprehensiveness o f information on the public procurement system whereas indicator 12 assesses the nature and the scope o f anticomptionprovisions inthe procurement system. 4.18 To summarize the key findings in assessing Pillar IV, the following characteristics shall be mentioned: Indicator 9: The country has effective control and audit systems Ingeneral, asthe assessmentreveals, theprocurementaudit framework is still at anearly stage. 0 The legal framework provides for external annual procurement audits by the Auditor General however specialized procurement audits have not yet been carried out. The Ghana Audit Service has recognized its need for further capacity building and has received a grant by the World Bank to strengthen its capacity to carry out specialized audits, among others inthe field o fprocurement. 0 As for internal audits, the Internal Audit Agency has overseen the establishment of 97 internal audit units in 2006, i.e. about 25 percent o f MDA's and MMDA's have established internal audit units. However, the internal audit standards provided do not particularly address procurement issues. A checklist has been developed but focuses on compliance not on procurement performance audits. 0 Enforcement and follow-up o f auditing findings i s entrusted to the Audit Reports Implementation Committees (ARIC) currently being set up nationwide inall procurement entities. Currently, about 25 percent o f the procurement entities have an ARIC established. The Oversight Institutions are included inthe planed short-term training program. Indicator 10: Efficiency o f atmeals mechanism 0 The PPA inaugurated The Appeals and Complaints Panel in February 2007. The rules which will apply to the Panel were drafted by the Appeals and Complaints Task Force. As per April 2007, 21 complaints were received by the PPA originating from the period o f December 2005 to April 2007. No information could be obtained on the status on any o f these cases and there is no evidence o f any decisions being published. 0 The newly established Appeals and Complaints Panel i s part o f PPA and hence not fblly independent and autonomous with regardto resolving complaints. Indicator 11: Dewee o f access to information Public access to procurement information i s facilitated through the PPA website. The information provided i s comprehensive inmany aspects but i s yet to cover essentials such as a complete list o f contract awards. 46 Indicator 12: The countrv has ethics and anticorruptionmeasures inplace Most of the Tender Documents contain anti-corruption provisions and the offences are stated in Act 663. Civil society organizations such as the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (in which the government i s represented by the Serious Fraud Office and the Commission for HumanRights and Administrative Justice) and Ghana Integrity Initiative support ethical behavior but have only started with some initiatives to monitor compliance with the new procurement law and to track selected budgets in the field o f public works. A Code o f Conduct for the Ghana Civil Service exists but according to the Ghana Anti- corruption Coalition, its dissemination and implementation is yet to be enforced. There is no evidence o f a declaration on ethical behaviour to be signed by suppliers. The PPAplans to develop a dedicated code for procurement staff ingovernment. 4.19 See Table 4.4 for the detailed assessment results on Pillar IV: Table 4.4: Summaryof BLI's in Integrity and Transparency(Pillar IV) Baseline Indicator Comments from PYA nent System 9. Effectiveness of control and audit systems The legal framework that governs the auditing o f the public accounts and procurement inGhana are embedded in Article 187 to 189 o f the Constitution: Audit Services Act, 2000 (Act 584): The Financial Administration Act, 2003: The Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003: and The Public Procurement Act, 2003. 9-a)- Legal The Constitution together with the Audit framework, Services Act, 2000 which has consolidated organization, policy, most o f the previous legislationhas defined and procedures for the roles and responsibilities o f the Auditor 1 internal and external General who is responsible for the external control and audit o f oversight function o f government. public procurement. The InternalAudit Agency (IAA)was established by the IAA Act 2003, with the objective to co-ordinate, facilitate and provide quality assurancefor internal audit activities. Act 663 mandatesin section 91 that: (1) the Auditor General shall conduct annual audits o f the procurement activities o f entities 47 Baseline Indicator Status and Trend Proposed score Comments from PPA and shall furnish copies o f reports on the audits to the Board upon request from the Board. (2) the Auditor-General shall cany out specific audits into the procurement activities o f entities andcompliance by contractors, suppliersand consultants at the request ofthe Board. Procurement issues are captured within the normal financial audits. The system inthe county is therefore adequately independent andsufficient to oversee the procurement function. The IAAhas overseenthe establishment o f 97 internal audit unitsbeing setup inMDA,s and MMDA's duringthe periodto December 2006. The IAUhas clearly established rules andprocedure o foperation through the adoption o f internal audit standards and regulations. Assessment: a andb met, c and d not met. Enforcement and follow up o f auditing findings is entrustedto the Audit Reports Implementation Committee (ARIC). ARICs are requiredunder section 30 (1) o f the Audit Service Act, 2000 to be established inall ministries, departments, agencies, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies. ARICs are responsible for following up Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee recommendations as 9-b) -Enforcement well as internal audit reports. The majority o f andfollow-up on the currently existing ARICs are newly findings and established during 2006 and comprise 1 recommendations o f approximately 25 percent o f the total required the control. number. It is too early to gauge their effectiveness at this stage intheir development, The report ofthe Auditor General on the Public Accounts o f Ghana's ministries, departments and other Agencies for the year ended31 December 2005 statedthat he was unable to provide a status report on the implementation o f recommendations by MDAs from 2000 to 2004 because 48 Baseline Indicator Propsed score Parliament through the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has not been able to consider the relevant reports due mainly to resource constraints. The Internal Audit Units are primarily responsible for the evaluation o f the internal controls inMDA's and MMDAs.Internal audit units have been established in approximately 25 percent o f the possible units during the periodto December 2006. The Internal Audit Agency has ensured the 9-c) - The internal establishment o f internal audit regulations :ontrol system and standards and the use o f an audit manual provides timely and programs by MUS.The IAA has information on monitored on a quarterly basis throughout the 2 :ompliance to enable year the reports submittedby the units for management action. their adherence to statutory regulations and procedures. I t is still early to gauge and confirm the extent to which the established periodicity and written standards are complied with. Assessment: a andb met. The internal control systems throughout government are generally inplace although they will differ quite substantially between those inMinistries, departments and Agencies which will reflect a more suitably defined system as compared to those o f say in the district assemblies. This has been evidenced by the review o f the internal audit quarterly reports. It would therefore be 9-d) -The internal reasonable to deduce that although the :ontrol systems are procedures exist adherence to them is uneven sufficiently defined throughout government. :oallow 2 Jerfonnance audits The Public Sector Internal Audit Standards :obe conducted. that have been developed are designed to primarily provide technical guidance to internal auditors inthe performance o f their duties. The standards are not designed to address the conduct of specialist hnctions such as procurement audits. A compliance checklist has been developed and is usedbut is not designed to address specialist activities which would pertain to performance audits. According to Act 658 section 3 (3a) the set 49 Baseline Indicator Proposed score standards andprocedures for the conduct o f internal audit activities inthe MDA's and MMDA's shall promote economy, efficiency andeffectiveness inthe administration o f government programs and operations. Auditors are generally expected to have reasonably good knowledge o f P F M issues which would include procurement. Procurement questionnaires are being used by internal audit units and specialized programs are being developed. Support is generally availedby those with more skilled ?-e) - Auditors are knowledge. 9ur upcoming nationwide sufficiently informed Trainingprogram will largely ibout procurement This month, a grant was approved by the 1 zddress (GAS) capacity gaps in :equirements. World Bank to strengthen the capacity o f the !hearea ofprocurement audit. Ghana Audit Service (GAS) to carry out specialized audits inthe areas o fpublic procurement, special hnds and forensics. The Final Implementation Plan for Delivery o f Short-Term Procurement Training Modules of June 2006 defines oversight institutions as target groups (amongst others). LO. Efficiency of appeals mechanism. Part VI1o f Act 663 describes the review mechanismand specifics that any supplier shall inthe first instance submit his complaint inwritingto the headofthe procurement 10-a) - Decisions entity if the contract has not already entered ire deliberated on into force (section 79). H e i s entitled to seek .he basis o f available for administrative review by the Board nformation, andthe (section 80). Deadlines for review procedures h a 1decision can be are specified insection 79 and 80 (4). .eviewed and ruled 3 lponby a body (or The Board inaugurated The Appeals and iuthority) with Complaints Panel on February 23,2007. mforcement Proposed rules and procedures for Panels :apacity under the have been developed (dated 26 October aw. 2006). The decisions can be challenged inthe commercial courts. Assessment: a, b, c met. 50 BaselineIndicator Proposed score Commentsfrom PPA 10-b) - Capacity o f Act 663 sections 79 and 80 establish terms the complaint review andtimelines for resolution of complaints systemand and administrative review. The Appeals and enforcement o f Complaints Panel, responsible for 2 decisions. administrative review, was only recently established. Article 23 o f the Constitutionimposes a duty on government officials to act fairly and reasonably. Act 663 Part VI1describes the review systembut does not addressthe question o f evidence andinformation upon which decision must be rendered. Section 80 o f Act 663 specifies the remedies that are relevant to correcting the implementation o f the process/procedures: including 80(3) (c) and 80(3) (e). A report was releasedon 26 October 2006 by the Appeals andComplaints Task Force entitled'ProposedRulesandProcedures for the Establishment of an Appeals and Complaints Panel'. The rules will apply to the Panel which is effective since February 2007. The rules refer to Article 23 o f the 10-c) - Fairness o f 1992 Constitution which imposes a duty on administrativebodies and officials to act the complaints fairly and reasonably and to conform to the 2 system. rules imposedon them by law. Inaccordance with the constitution, the Board is bound to give fair and reasonable decisions. Decisions shouldresult inremedies that are relevant to correcting the implementation o f the process (Act 663, section 80 (3)). As stated inthe rules, a complainant has the option to go to court, if for example the Boardtakes an unreasonable decision (Reference is made to Article 23 o f the 1992 constitution and Order 55). 21complaints were receivedby the Public Procurement Authority betweenDecember 2005 andApril 2007. No evidence on the follow-up o f these complains has been obtained (no. o f cases solved, outcome o f decisions) to assess to what extent decisions result inremedies that are relevant to 51 BaselineIndicator Proposed score CommentsfromPPA correcting the implementation o f the process. Assessment: l3 a, b, and c met; d not met. Section 8l(5) states the requirements (and exceptions) to makingdecisions by the procurement entity or by the administrative 10-d)-Public review body available for inspection to the access to decisions. public. Decisions are not published yet but 0 PPA informedthat soonthey will be made public on PPA's website and inthe Procurement Bulletin. The Appeals and Complaints Panel is part o f PPA. Besides, 4 PPA officials are among its seven members. Due to the nature o f this sub-indicator, it is to be scored as either 3 or 0. Since it can not be stated, that the complaint review body is fully 10-e) - independent and autonomous from the rest of Independence o f the the system with regard to resolving `Membershipof the Panel is being administrative complaints, the sub-indicator was assessed0. 0 reviewed. ThePanel is largely review body. independent. The following examples couldbe considered potential areas o f conflict o f interest: (i) present definition o f the right to review could be challenged as insufficient (see assessment o f sub-indicator lh); (ii)the help-desk established at PPA may have given advice on the case under review. 11.Accessibilityto information. Public access to procurement information is Publication and facilitated through the PPA website distribution o f (PPBghana.org). The information provided is 2 information. comprehensive inmany aspects but is yet to cover essentials such as a complete list o f contract awards. l3Following the mainassessmentexercise, during the subsequent review process, a re-appraisal ofthe original scoring was made to ensure closer linkage with the OECD/DAC methodology. 52 BaselineIndicator Statusand Trend Proposed score Commentsfrom PPA 12. Ethics and anticorruption policy and measures. Although the needto incorporate anti- corruption provisions intender documents is not explicitly stated inAct 663, all o fthe Tender documents with the exceptionof 12-a) Legal - Request for Quotations and Request for provisions on Proposals have adequateprovisions on fraud corruption, fraud, and corruption. Inaddition, section 66 o f the conflict o f interest, Financial Administration Act (Financial 3 andunethical Administration Tribunal) provides for anti- behaviour. corruption measures applicable to procurement officers. The offences are listed insection 62 ofthe Act. All criteria are thus considered to be substantiallv met. Act 663 section 93 on corrupt practices 12-b) -Definition in specifies in (1) that entities andparticipants legal systemo f must comply with article 284 ofthe responsibilities, Constitution. Section 93 (2) o f Act 663 also accountabilities, and refers to the Criminal Code o f 1960 (Act 29) 3 penalties for inwhichcorruptpractices are defined. fraudulent or corrupt Section 92 o f Act 663 details offences related practices. to procurement (section 92 (2)) and the corresponding sanctions (penalties as defined by section 92 (2)). Corruption practices are spelled out in section Corrupt cases involving 93 o fAct 663. wocurement malpractices will rlot necessarily be dealt with by In2006 Ghana scored 3.3 points onthe theproposed Financial Corruption Perception Index o f Transparency ddministration Tribunal. Cases International (scale 1-10, with 0 beingthe 7fcorruption are criminal cases most corrupt). According to the Economist 2nd will be dealt with under the Intelligence Unit2006 Country Profile for Criminal Code of I960 (Act 29). Ghana, the media in Ghanaplays an 12-c) - Enforcement important role inexposing corruption cases. Grievances and complaintsfrom o f rulingsand 1 zggrievedparties of a Tender penalties. However, the assessors were not able to process are being handled by the obtain evidence o f corruption cases reported 4ppeals & Complaints Panel of or cases beingprosecuted. Accordingly, the PPA. Investigations which ratio between cases beingreportedand cases 2stablish criminal cases would be prosecuted could not be established. The referred to the criminaljustice Financial Administration Tribunal 7rocesses. (established under the Financial Administration Act) which is supposedto Von availability of corrupt cases deal with corruption cases is not yet fully 9r cases beingprosecuted cannot operational. 5e interpreted to mean lack of 53 BaselineIndicator Status andTrend Proposed score CommentsfromPPA 4dministrative/Crimina1 Procedures to handle corrupt -uses. Our minimum scorefor this indicator should be 2. According to Ghana's Growth andPoverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) I1(November 12-d) - Measures 2005), the Government's policy on corruption exist to prevent and has focused on fraudulent payments and detect fiaud and wages inthe public sector. The report further 2 corruption inpublic notes that the Government's anti-corruption procurement. strategy can be further strengthened through capacity buildingo f the anti-corruption institutions andlaw enforcement agencies. The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) includes the Private Enterprise Foundation(PEF), Ghana Journalists 12-e) - Stakeholders Association (GJA) and the Ghana Integrity support the creation Initiative(GII, local chapter o f Transparency o f a procurement International). The Government i s also market known for its represented inthe Coalitionthrough the 2 integnty and ethical Serious Fraud Office, which forms part of the behaviours. Public Services of Ghana, and the Commission for HumanRights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), enacted in October 1993. The impact o f the GACC is yet to be determined. The Serious FraudOffice and the Commission for HumanRights and Administrative Justice are mechanisms for 12-0 -Mechanism reporting fraudulent, corrupt, or unethical for reporting behaviour. Security and confidentiality is fraudulent, corrupt, addressedthrough the Act 720 2 or unethical (Whistleblowers Act, 2006). However, the behaviour. Rightto Information bill (first drafted in2003 according to localmedia reports) is still with Cabinet. 54 Baseline Indicator Status and Trend Proposed more Comments from PPA The Code of Conduct for the Ghana Civil Service issuedby the office o f the head o f the civil service is applicable. Part 2(b) o f the Code (Guiding principles) specifies that officers should not place themselves under "any financial or other obligation that might influence theminthe performance of their official duties, includingaward o f contracts". Part 2(c) of the Code further specifies that civil servants should make choices based solely on merit when (among other things) 12-g) Codes o f - awarding contracts. Part 7 of the Code details ConductICodes o f rules for efficient, effective and proper use o f Ethics for participantpublic funds and Part 8 addresses gifts, and provisionfor bribes, and conflict o f interest. Inaddition 3 disclosure for those plans are afoot inPPA to develop a dedicated indecisionmaking code for procurement staff inthe government positions. as per section 83 o f the Act. A declaration on ethical behaviour is beingdeveloped for suppliers. Act 550 (Public Office Holder (Declaration o f Assets and Disqualification Act, 1998)) subjects decision makers and officials (including procurement officers) (schedule 1 o f the Act) to specific financial disclosure requirements (section 4). Assessment: a. b and c met. Summary 4.20 As detailed in the assessment, the solid legal framework for public procurement represents a good platform to build on. The normative and regulatory functions are well established. PPA who is inthe driver seat o f implementing the procurement reform strategy, has clear responsibilities. The legal and administrative foundation has been laid down for a number o f important functions and activities to strengthen the national procurement system comprising linkages with public financial management, the roles o f external and internal audit institutions, appeals mechanism, anticorruption measures and capacity buildinginitiatives. A number o f sub- indicators have been identified that indicate room for improvement. The challenges that are facing PPA and the Government in general in implementing the reform, in translating the well- defined system into daily practice, will be addressed in the following Chapter 5 Outstanding Challenges. 55 5. OUTSTANDING CHALLENGES INTRODUCTION 5.1 This section identifies on the basis o fthe above analyses, the main challenges lying ahead that PPA will need to meet in order to strengthen operations and framework for public procurement inGhana. 5.2 For monitoring performance and compliance, it has been noted that the Government should be commended for its vision to develop and pilot the tool. It has a high potential to deliver robust and well-aligned compliance and performance data for the OECDLDAC Baseline indicator system. To further increase the value o f the tool, a number o f strategic challenges remain and some technical features o f the tool needrefinement. 5.3 In terms of challenges related to the national procurement system (as defined by the OECD methodology), Figure 5.1 below provides an overview o f how Ghana scores indicator by indicator. The scores represent simple averages o f the scores o f the various sub-indicators. As already mentioned, Ghana's performance i s above average, but there i s still room for progress. It should be noted in this context that although Act 663 i s generally considered to be one o f the strengths o f the procurement system (as documented by an average score o f 2,l for indicator 1) and the implementing tools are also favorably rated (average score o f 2,5 for indicator 2) there are specific issues under each indicator that need to be addressed, notably the need to supplement the legal framework by approving the regulations. Figure5.1: Ghana'sPublicProcurementSystem, score aggregatedbyIndicator Note: Scores represent simple averages o f the scores o f the various sub-indicators (refer to Chapter 4 for details on the methodology) 5.4 Still, the overall legislative and regulatory framework (covered by indicators 1 and 2) i s generally considered the main strength and the main challenges are primarily lying in the other pillars, notably in the areas o f mainstreaming the public procurement system into the public 56 sector (indicator 3), increasing the institutional development capacity (indicator 5), strengthening procurement operations (indicator 6), strengthening the control and audit framework (indicators 9), and fully implementing the appeals mechanisms (indicator 10). Room for improvement i s also noted in the bctionality o f the public procurement market (indicator 7), on contract administration (indicator 8), and insecuring full access to information (indicator 11). 5.5 With respect to the outstanding actions under the CPAR, the main challenges lie in fully implementing the very promising steps that have already been taken in terms o f developing a professional and attractive career for the procurement cadre and to finalize a national standard certification institution to support the professionalism o f the cadre. 5.6 Finally, the PPA and the Government in general face a challenge in mobilizing the necessary human and financial resources for meeting the various challenges. Continued external hdingis considered crucial inthis context. 5.7 Each o f the abovementioned challenges are described inmore detail below. CHALLENGES Improvingthe Assessment Framework 5.8 Whereas the development o f the PPME tool represents a significant achievement by the Government o f Ghana and the PPA, there is still a challenge lying ahead in terms o f reconsidering the strategy, implementing the respective measures and refining as well as improving the alignment o f the tool to the OECDDAC Baseline Indicators and Compliance and Perfonnance Indicators. 5.9 As elaborated in Chapter 3, the specific challenge is to enhance the usefulness o f the PPME-tool to monitor and supervise public procurement practices at the entity level and subsequently to provide data for compliance and performance o f the national procurement system. Specific recommendations to this effect are provided inChapter 6. Supplementingthe LegalFramework 5.10 Although Ghana's legal framework i s the highest scoring pillar, it still has deficiencies, notably in the sense that the regulations continue to exist in draft form. It i s however expected that they will be passedbefore Parliament inthe course o f 2007. 5.11 In addition there are a number of more detailed provisions that would also benefit from beingaddressed. These are identifiedunder keyrecommendations inChapter 6. MainstreamingProcurement 5.12 As demonstrated in the previous Chapter, there i s a need to strengthen the quality o f procurement plans and the linkages between the procurement planning process and the overall budgetingprocess. 57 5.13 With respect to the quality o fprocurementplans, the PPA and the Government ingeneral will need to follow through on the MoFEP letter directing entities to submit copies o f their procurement plans to the PPA for quality assurance checks. This process will have considerable resource implications for PPA. 5.14 As regards the need to strengthen integration o fprocurementplanning with the budgeting process (andto production o f statistics), PPA has taken a significant step indeveloping the web- based procurement system for procurement entities to use. A major challenge consists inrolling out this system through training and support from PPA. This is another resource-demanding challenge for the PPA. 5.15 A related challenge concerns the need for PPA to establish an effective mechanism securing that budgetary and financial management systems are provided with the necessary information on contract completion. As demonstrated in Chapter 4, such a mechanism i s not currently inplace. IncreasingInstitutionalDevelopmentCapacity 5.16 As mentioned, the development o f the short-tern training program to be rolled out in 2007 has taken place with the active involvement o f GIMPA. This is a promising development in the sense that it i s an indication o f an improved capacity among national training institutions. GIMPA's strength inthe area o f procurement is also underlined by the fact that it offers various medium and long term programs in procurement and materials management. The challenge is now for the PPA, in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders, to build on these achievements to ensure that training capacity i s also strengthened among other training institutions and providers, both state and private providers. This inturnwill assist inmeeting the challenge o f developing and offering a wider supply o f high quality medium and long term procurement programs inGhana. Moreover, the PPA may want to address these issues intandem with the current efforts to develop a national standard certification system for procurement professionals. The stronger the interface between these systems, the greater the likelihood that both will succeed. 5.17 A related challenge consist in taking the quality standards already developed as part o f the Procurement Manual and use them consistently as a basis for staff evaluation. Currently, evaluation o f procurement processes i s focused to large degree on the performance o f the process. However it may also create value added to focus more explicitly on the performance o f the individual in relation to the standards (including lead times for particular steps o f the procurement process). 5.18 Finally, for the system to have a better foundation for analysis and improvement, a vital challenge consists in developing PPA's capacity to collect and produce national, aggregate statistics. The aforementioned web-based procurement interface i s expected to be a key instrument inthis connection. This is another activity that will require significant input interms o f financial and humanresources. 58 StrengtheningProcurementOperations 5.19 The area o f strengthening procurement operations i s arguably one o f the most important challenges for PPA, the Government and the procurement entities to meet. It i s a logical process that the establishment o f a high-quality legal and institutional framework needs to be translated into realities on the ground through implementation. It will inthis context be a key challenge for the PPA, and the Government in general, to ensure that the Act and associated instruments are fully understood, appreciated and complied with by management, procurement staff and members o f the various committees and boards at the entity level. In this context it i s highly encouraging that the understanding o f and attention to procurement o f these groups i s addressed through the short term program. 5.20 The challenge now consists in effectively rolling-out the short term training program as planned. A first key step i s to ensure that the key interlocutors, those responsible for training the trainers, are well prepared and capable o f lifting this important task. Secondly, PPA will need to monitor the training process closely and draw lessons learnt for subsequent use. For example, it will be interesting to assess the degree to which the training gives rise to improved standards for records management and contract administration at the entity level. 5.21 Another challenge i s for PPA to adopt and fully implement the use o f standards and entry requirements to ensure recruitment o f competent procurement professionals. As mentioned such standards and requirements have been developed in the context o f the report on the career structure. Since the report has received the necessary official endorsement in June 20, 2007, the challenge is now to make those responsible for recruitment aware o f the need to use these as a basis for assessment o f new applicants. 5-22 The professionalization o f procurement practitioners is also likely. to be strengthened through establishment o f remaining entity tender committees, tender review boards and procurement units. While this in itself i s considered a significant challenge, especially given human resources constraints, it will greatly improve the likelihood that the procurement professionreaches a higher standing andwill attract new staff. 5.23 A final challenge related to procurement operations has to do with the expediency o f the procurement process. Inorder to promote efficiency and effectiveness o f the public procurement process, the PPA and the Government i s already in the process o f considering whether the current architecture o f EntityTender Committees and Tender Review Boards could be structured differently to allow for a more expedient process, especially at the level o f the MMDAs. To the extent that a more effective structure to delegate authority can be defined, this would have a positive effect on the overall effectiveness o f the system. BuildingCapacityof the PublicProcurementMarket 5.24 Looking beyond the capacity o f procurement officials in the public systems, the PPA i s also facing a challenge in involving the private sector more closely and building its capacity to compete on the national public procurement market. 5.25 Again it i s encouraging that also the private sector is included in PPA's short-term training program, but the assessment i s that capacity problems inmany private sector entities are 59 o f a nature that requires a more comprehensive and long term approach. Hence the challenge o f buildingthe private sector capacity to prepare not only responsive tenders, but also tenders o f a highquality that meet the needs of the public sector is to ensure that overall supply o ftraining is provided (notably in medium and long term) and to ensure that the private sector realizes the potential for further business opportunities to enlist to these courses. 5.26 Another way o f involving the private sector more actively i s for the Government to set out mechanisms enabling Public Private Partnerships. The use o f PPPs as a way o f procurement i s still in the early stages in Ghana, but PPPs may have great potential if nurtured and promoted actively. 5.27 Finally, to promote the capacity and diversity o f the private sector, the Government may want to consider addressing some o f the more systemic constraints identified in Chapter 4, including the inability o f some MSMEs to access finance and thus consolidate their position in the market. Addressing such constraints are however a complex task that will require the joint andconcerted efforts o f actors fromboththepublic andprivate sector. ImprovingContractAdministration 5.28 In the PPA's self assessment carried out in 2006 (refer to Chapter 3), contract administrationwas singled out as the lowest scored category o f all four categories comprising the Performance Assessment System (PAS). The report also specifies that the procurement process i s typically and 'erroneously thought o f as having ended once the contract' i s signed (page 25). Particular problem areas are reported to relate to planning and mobilization, implementation, supervision, and reporting - andespecially so inrelation to works. 5.29 At the same time, anumber o finitiatives havebeentaken bythe PPAto focus on contract administration, including a dedicated section in the recently prepared procurement manual. A separate training module 'introduction to contract management' is also included in the forthcoming short term training program. 5.30 The challenge for the PPA i s now to implement and build on these activities and ensure that contract administration is actually improving on the ground. Particular focus area should be the monitoring o f completion o f works and o f timely payments with a view to fulfill contractual obligations byboth contracting parties. Strengtheningthe controland auditframework 5.31 With respect to both external and internal audit, Ghana has a solid legal basis to build on interms of the Audit Services Act (Act 584), the Internal Audit Agency Act (Act 658), andthe Public Procurement Act (Act 663). 5.32 Conduct o f procurement specific audits (provided for through Act 663) are however yet to be a common phenomenon and follow-up o f audit findings i s also an area for improvement. In this context, Audit Reports Implementation Committees (ARICs) are yet to be established nationwide inthe MDAs and MMDAs. 60 5.33 Likewise the Government also faces a challenge in institutionalizing the internal audit function nationwide through the establishment o f Internal Audit Units. In tandem with this process, more specialized standards for procurement audits will need to be developed in addition to the checklists already developed for internal audit purposes. 5.34 Finally, with respect to both external and internal auditors it is generally recognized that more procurement expertise i s required. Inthis context it is encouraging that the GAS has agreed a capacity buildingprogram with the World Bank to address this issue (among others). However, continuous efforts to train auditors inprocurement related issues will be critical to strengthening the audit framework for procurement inGhana. Implementingthe Appeals Mechanism 5.35 Under Act 663, the Appeals and Complains Panel has as mentioned recently been established. Prior to its initiation, the Board itself served as the administrative review body. To date, 21 complaints have been received but no specific information has been obtained as to the status o f these cases interms o fprocessing and any decisions. At the same time it is promising to note that a paper containingthe proposedprocedures for the Panelhas been prepared. 5.36 The major challenge for the Board o f PPA is now to implement the procedures ensuring that the decisions o f the Appeals and Complaints Panel are taken expediently and communicated to the public in the interest o f transparency and accountability. In addition to clearing the backlog o f complaints within a short time, it i s also important that membership o f the Panel is reviewed to ensure full independence and autonomy from the rest o f the system with regard to resolving complaints. SecuringFullAccess to Information 5.37 It should be acknowledged that the PPA and the Government are already taking steps to improving transparency and accountability by making procurement related information accessible to the public. However, a continuing challenge i s to broaden the scope o f the information made available to the public through the PPA-website and other communication channels such as the Procurement Bulletin. Giving the public free access to full information i s expected to boost public confidence inreform and thus create an enabling framework for further reform. 5.38 A particularly important area is the need to keep the bidders fully informed o f key decisions such as contract award etc (including expedient updates to those who do not win). Completingimplementationof CPAR Recommendations 5.39 In addition to the challenges identified in the context o f the evaluation o f the self- assessment and the joint assessment, the PPA and the Government in general also continue facing challenges in terms o f fully implementing (and following up on) some o f the recommendations contained in the 2004 CPAR. Chief among these i s the need to see the career path report fully implemented to improve professionalism and staff recognition. A major step was accomplished in that direction in June 20th2007, when the Office o f the Head o f the Civil 61 Service conveyed its official approval o f the career path proposal submitted by the PPA, with a recommendation that it is operationalized as soon as possible. 5.40 Another important issue addressed by the 2004 CPAR is the need for a nationwide standard for certification o f procurement professionals. A draft constitution and codes o f ethics have now been prepared by the Ghana Institute o f Procurement and Supply Chain Management (GIPSCM), but these documents are yet to be formalizedjust as the status and role o f GIPSCM inrelationto public sector procurementprofessionals remains to beclarified. 5.41 Finally, PPA also faces other CPAR-related challenges including the need to elaborate as to how value for money in procurement can be further increased and how the issue of labor standards can be addressed in standard contract documents, particularly for low-value works contracts. (Annex 2 provides an overview o f the implementation status for the various CPAR recommendations). MobilizingResources 5.42 To meet the various challenges outlined, significant resources will berequiredinterms o f funding, staffing and partnerships with key stakeholders. Hence, continuous high-level Government commitment needs to be reassured. The PPA in collaboration with the Governr'nent will need to beproactiveto enable the PPA to meet the various challenges outlined above. 6. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 Building on the Public Procurement Assessment findings, following is a proposal of recommendations for meeting the key challenges outlined inthe previous Chapter. A modulated approach i s taken, distinguishingbetween short-term wins andmedium-term actions. QUICK WINS 6.2 Quick wins are generally defined as actions that with limited use o f resources can bring about notable changes and improvements within a year. It further applies that key actions are at an advanced stage o f implementation. Supplementthe legal framework 6.3 To further supplement and detail the provisions o f the law, it is important to seek approval o f the proposed amendments o f Act 663 and formally approve and issue the regulations. In this process the government may want to consider building on the current assessment to update the overall legal framework. 6.4 Particular provisions that would benefit from being addressed include: 0 the definition o f a hierarchy for the various legal instruments (refer to analysis o f indicator 1a); 0 clarification on procurement methods, notably the presentationo fprocurement methods inSchedule 3 ofAct 663 (indicator lb); 62 advertisement rules allowing sufficient time for bidders to submitbids (indicator 1c); 0 definition o f rules for participationo f state-owned enterprises incompetitive bidding (indicator 1d); 0 sharpening o f tender evaluation criteria (indicator 10; 0 areas entitled for complaints to include selection o fprocurement methods and rejection o f bids (indicator lh); 0 publication o f appeals decisions (indicator 1Od); and 0 norms for safekeeping o f records (indicator 6c). Reconsiderstrategy,preparationandconduct of future self-assessments. 6.5 To ensure value for money and strengthen the focus on risk mitigation when rolling out the PPME tool, measures to improve fbture assessments should focus on: 0 Representativeness o f sampling at the entity level; 0 Appropriateness o f qualification o f assessors (including procurement); 0 Comprehensiveness o f instructions for assessors; Planning sufficient time for assessmentsconsidering the size o f the procurement entity to be assessed; 0 Quality control; and 0 sequencing hrther PPME roll out with capacity buildinginitiatives andprioritization o f keyprocurement entities (based on annual volume o f contracts). Refinethe PPME tool 6.6 The indicators, formulae, and reporting may be hrther improved by considering the followingproposed actions: 0 Refine some Key Performance Criteria (KPCs) (particularly the ones that were scored N.A.often); 0 Publish the average rating o f each KPC and link them to the respective OECDDAC Baseline Indicators for qualitative performance and compliance measurement; 0 Correct/align some formulae for improved accuracy in generating Performance Measurement Indicators (PMI); 0 Link the PMIs to the respective OECDDAC Baseline Indicators for quantitative performance andcompliance measurement; and 0 Reconsider usefulness o f PPME Baseline-Indicator System (BIS) report. 6.7 It is encouraging to note that PPA plans to use a refined PPME tool in rolling out the assessment later in2007. The new strategy will include updated guidelines with special attention 63 on bid spenders and highvolume contracts and completeness o f spectrum to cover Works, Goods andConsultants contracts. Make operationalthe web-basedprocurementplanningtool 6.8 PPA is encouraged to introduce the recently developed web-based procurement planning system to improve the quality o f procurement plans and to generate aggregate national procurement statistics. Training on the use o f the procurement planningtool has already started and it i s expected that the tool will be operational by January 2008 to allow monitoring o f quality assurance o f the plans and o ftheir quarterlyrequired up-dating. Executethe Short TermTraining Program 6.9 The PPA's training program, launched in August 2007, represents a "window o f opportunity" to strengthen compliance with the legal framework. Given the funding constraints (discussed above) the burden o f financing o f the training program cannot be borne by PPA budget only. It is suggested that PPA deals with the organizational aspects o f the workshops while the funding o f participants (transpodper idem etc.) is coveredby the training budget o f the respective procuring entities. For now, PPA plans to secure funding until next year (2009) at which time, procuring entities are expected to have budgetary provisions for funding their participants. It is further recommended that the program is closely monitored and updated as necessary to put emphasis to the extent possible on critical areas already identified by the GoG self assessment report. Establishnationalstandardcertificationsystem 6.10 It will be imperative for PPA to ensure that the documents prepared for the establishment o f the Ghana Institution o f Procurement and Supply Chain Management are fully adapted to the needs and requirements o f both the private and public sectors in Ghana. Once this has been ensured, the PPA should put its full weight behind the formalization o f the Institution, its Charter and Code. This process should be closely coordinated with the current drive to institutionalize and develop high-quality medium and long-tern training programs. There should be a clear linkage between degrees and certificates from such programs and subsequent accreditation from the authorizedbody. The final report to establish the Ghana Institute o f Procurement and Supply Chain Management i s ready and being considered by the PPA, which plans to inaugurate the institutebyDecember 2008. Establishefficient mechanismsto delegateauthority 6.11 As noted, the current architecture o f entity tender committees and tender review boards does not allow for expedient processing o f procurement processes. It i s encouraging that the Government i s aware and looking into this issue and has included this recommendation in the proposed amendments o f Act 663. It is recommended that action is taken, after carefbl consideration o f the associated risks, to streamline and simplify the current architecture allowing for more swift and flexible operations o f these structures. PPA has included this recommendation in the proposed amendments o f Act 663, which are expected to be approved by December 2007. 64 Publicizedecisions madeby the Appeals andComplaintsPanel 6.12 It is considered vital for the overall credibility, accountability and transparency o f the procurement system that the Appeals and Complaints Panel (ACP) implement the rules, as soon as possible to start clearing the backlog o f cases submitted for administrative review, follow up on sanctions, and generally act as an advocate for law enforcement. PPA has recognized the importance to ensure full independence and autonomy o f the ACP from the rest o f the system with regardto resolving complaints andplansto revise its compositionbyDecember 2007 with a view to make it a completely independent entity Publishregularlythe PublicProcurementBulletinandsupplementthe website with informationon contractopportunities,contractawards, andprocurementplans 6.13 Following its official launching in August 22, 2007, the Public Procurement Bulletin should be published regularly to ensure wide and easily accessible publication o f business opportunities and to comply with Act 663. Also, the PPA should be commended for having in place a very comprehensive website which i s regularly updated, a1 least with respect to some categories o f information. Nevertheless it i s proposed that PPA further increases the value o f the site by adding up-to-date information on contract opportunities, awards and procurement plans. This will greatly strengthen the transparency and accountability o f the public procurement system and will, as an added value, allow potential bidders more time to plan ahead and prepare bids. MEDIUM TERMACTIONS 6.14 These actions are expected to be achieved in a horizon up to three years, i.e. within the planninghorizon o f the PPA rolling strategic plans. The medium term actions below relate to capacity development and internal and external scrutiny o f the public procurement system. Buildup sustainableprocurementtrainingprogramswithin localtraininginstitutions 6.15 It is strongly recommended that PPA encourages existing training institutions in the private and public sector to develop high-quality programs in procurement training. It will be vital to create an incentive structure that will inspire procurement professionals to enroll in professional courses. In this regard, GIMPA is already using PPA's training module in their courses. If participation in training courses i s associated with accreditation and increased likelihood for career progression, the incentive to sign up will increase. It will also be necessary for MDAs to allocate sufficient funds for training o f their procurement staff. In turn this will depend on the development o f a broader environment o f accountability for performance, andthus the efficient management o fprocurement i s a critical contributor to this. Implementcareer pathfor procurementprofessionals 6.16 PPA shall be commended for having initiated the report on "Establishment o f a Career Path and Career Development o f Procurement Professionals and Practitioners in the PublicKivil Service". The approval in June 20th 2007, by the Office o f the Head o f the Civil Service is encouraging sign and should be followed by its implementation as soon as possible. The 65 establishment o f a career path i s central to the development o f a procurement cadre and would link career decisions with staff performance appraisal reports. Ideally, it would create an incentive system for procurement professionals from a monetary and status point o f view. Strengthenprivatesector capacityto successfullycompetefor Governmentcontracts 6.17 Workshops on how to do business with the government in compliance with Act 663 should be offered on a regular basis, ideally as an integrated part o f the short term training program. PPA could advocate for and assist inoffering workshops by Professional Associations. Ifprivate companies realize the chance to gain a competitive advantage by being better trained and informed, they should enlist in courses even if offered on a cost-covering basis. Successful workshops for service providers would create a win-win situation for the private sector, its professional associations and the procurement entities. The private sector is one o f the main targets o f PPA's short term capacity buildingprogram. Strengthenprocurementexpertiseamong audit institutions 6.18 To increase the effectiveness o f control and audit systems, it is important to strengthen collaboration among the oversight bodies including IAA, GAS and PPA. With respect to the capacity to undertake procurement audits, training i s already addressed to some extent under the short-term program, but more efforts are needed to build the necessary body o f knowledge on procurement related issues among the auditors. Besides this, topics for consideration could comprise specific requirements for procurement compliance and performance audits, planning annual procurement audits and follow-up mechanisms. SUMMARY 6.19 Table 6.1 below provides an overview o f the key recommendations, their proposed sequencing and the institutions proposed to be responsible for implementation. As highlighted, the focus o f the procurement reform program should be on implementation, i.e. on applying the well-defined system in daily practice. Due to the resource implic,ations involved, it needs to be emphasized again that continuous high-level Government commitment and support i s vital to make the Ghanaian procurement reform a success. 66 Table 6.1: Proposed Key Recommendations Capecity Uewloprncntfor Public Procurement PPA X 67 Annex 1: Summary of Baseline Scores 11f I Tender evaluation and award cntena I I I I I the capacity o f government and pnvate sector partmpants to understand the rules and regulations and 5c how they should be implemented I Quality control standards are dissemnated and used to evaluate staffperformance and address capacity 5d I developmentissues. 68 Note: Refer to Chapter 4, Flndings o f Public Procurement Assessment, for details on the scoring o f each sub- indicator. 69 Annex 2: ImplementationStatusof CPAR Recommendations Legal and institutional Create task force to spearheadprocurement reform Establishment o f the Public Procurement Board Clarify that national foreign firms are not excluded PPA: Only companies registered in Ghana are from N C T eligible Mandate use o f bid evaluation criteria quantified in Criteria introduced in Standard Tender monetary terms and o f objective bidders Documents qualification criteria Disclose fully all details pertainingto application o f Draft guidelines issued- Domestic preference for domestic preference goods applicable to both N C T and ICT. Procedures and Practices Improve procurement planning PPA to screen procurement plans and introduce web-based planning tool ( Expected to be fully operational by January 2008) e achievi Improve contract management No evidence Ensureuseo f labor standards inworks contracts N o evidence Improveprocurement record N o evidence Procurement Proficiency Develop training modules development a core shodterm training modules. Training started. t skills an t TNA conducted in2006 Tap into existing training institutions GIMPA involved indesign o f short-term training program Improve professionalism and staff recognition Career path proposal approved inJune 20th2007 Establish national standardprocurement certification Independent Oversight, Audits Develop clear procedures for prior and post review Appeals and Complaints draft procedures in and Recourse Put inpla Conduct separate procurement audits by competent So far limtedprogress experts Make provisions for capacity buildingto support GAS to buildcapacity with WE3 funding these objectives Fight Costly Corruption Disseminate PPA Broadly Awareness workshops conducted nationwide Introduce standard bidding documents and clear Standard Tender Documents developed manuals Enforce codes-of conduct No particular action Involve/ increase awareness o f the private sector Forum conducted to sensitise pnvate sector Other Important Areas Streamline customs and port clearance procedures Turn Introduce e-procurement where possible A web-based procurement planning tool is in place- Note: Refer to Chapter 2, Developments since CPAR of 2003, for details. 70 Annex 3: Questionnaire for Interview of Procurement Entities The questionnaire usedby the ERPFMteam for interview o fprocurement entities i s provided overleaf. Shaded areas indicate optional questions. Question Indicator Answer Remarks "YesMo-Questions" What is your annual 5a Procurement volume goods, no. o f contracts works, value services H o w many different guidelines Local do you apply? procedures (proportions o fbudget) IDonor procedures D o you have a central CPAR, procurement unit? PPA Have you submitted your 3a c o p y o f procurement plans for 2006 and proc.plans 2007?When? 2006 Questions regarding the recent self-assessment Are you satisfied with the 4b approach, methodology and results o f the self-assessment? Were the assessors well- 4c trainedcompetent to do the assessment? H o w was the sample (contracts) 4b selected? What shouldbe improved next 4 time? Questions to discuss (recommend-dationsiconcern) H o w did you disseminate the new law, regulations and manual? (to staff and vrivate sector) 71 Whendidyoureceive them? Are they concise and user- friend$? Do YOU use model tender docs? works, Arethey user-friendly? services, goods? Sample? How many pre-qualifications didyou have in20061how -_--- many were publicized? Selection criteria? Sample Award criteria? I Do you have ownusers 2e Sample for guidelmanuals? pre-qual. and selectiodawa rdcriteria Do you havelapply general ' COPY conditions Do you always have finding when starting a Droc. Drocess? How do you provide 5a, 11 information on procurements? What kind o f statistics do you have? How are they generated (IT?) What kindo f quality control do 5d you have inplace? Do youhave sufficient staffing? 5c How much training for staff and 5c Sep. staff and management did you conduct in managem. 2006 andplan to conduct in Proc. Review 2007?I s there an accreditation? Board? Are you satisfied with the procurement competence on all levels? (Does your staff understand the new regulations and do they have the capacity to operate them?) Does training supply meets demands? 1 Quality o f train.inst.? 6b Do you provide training yourself? (prof. cadre) Are there sufficient incentives (salary, promotion, status, recognition o f importance o f procurement by high management)? How do you keep your files? 6c sample (manual for that?) I Do you practice delegation o f manual authority? Do you havejob descriptions? copies How long does a proc. process statistics take? 72 (estimated average time?) H o w many people have to sign decisionslcontract? Do youhave PPP? 7a I Do you have fora with private 7b sector institutions? What are the meeting issues you discuss? Do bidders comprehend the system? Inwhich areas do the supplierkonsultants have a lack o f competence? Does private sector compete with state owned enterprises? I s there local 7c preferencehntemat. Competition? D o you follow clear procedures 8a for contract administr.? Register? H o w does dispute resolution 8b work? What do you do to enforce a 8c Best1 contract? Have you had an external audit 9e of your procurement activities? (IAA or Auditor General) D o you have an internal audit unit? HOW is it staffed? Has there been internal procurement audits? Are auditors adequately 9e informedbained to perform procurement audits? Didthey do performance checks? Have you had an appeal case? 1Oa 73 Annex 4: LinkageBetweenKPCSAnd BaselineIndicators 1Al X 1A2 X 1A3 X 1A4 X 1Rl X 1B2 X 1B3 X 1B4 X 1c1 X 1c2 X 1C3 X 1C4 X 1C5 X 1D1 x 1D2 X 1D3 x 1D4 1D5 X 1D6 x 1D7 1D8 X 3 1El x + a, 2 1E2 X tA z9a Y 1E3 FI 1E4 X 1E5 X 1E6 X 74 . ' X . . P 2D-1 ' . . , . . " 4 . 'i' . 1 . . . . . . .L . ~ ^j.._ -.,i f I3A1 i............... j ....... ' x... :...........;. .................* ..........;...! ....*,.1.-~, ...". :,,,..,,- :".... .__1..( ........r..........._ ........... ~."..l .... ....... .. ........... ........ 1-.... ,--, $, I . ,,. , . 1." . Note: The Matrix illustrates how the Key Performance Criteria o f the PPME tool relate to the 12 indicators o f the OECDDAC methodology for assessment of national procurement systems. The linkages are defined in columns 1 and 3 o f the evaluation grid developed by PPA for assessmento f procurement entities (see Annex 5). 75 Annex 5: PPAEvaluationGridfor Assessment of ProcurementEntities The Evaluation Grid developed by PPA for assessment o f procurement entities is provided overleaf. The Grid provides the framework for collection o f qualitative data against the Key Performance Criteria. Refer to Chapter 3 for details on the PPMEtool and the associated KPC. respondsto the requiredtrainin( sustainabie'strategy Training Development adviceto developsustainable exist to provide Programme Strategy training strategyand capacityto trainingadviceand .Training managetheir performance assistanceto PPA Part I UniUProviders operations developthe Section3 EvaluationReport capacityof governmentand privatesector participantsto Piiiar I1- Indicator4 Draft Technical responds sufficientlyand Baseline(b) the rulesllnstructions1M Supportfrom ~ consistentlyto the technical responsibilitiesof anuals and the Apex supportprovided by PPBfor the the apex Body Documentation Body implementationof the PPA address a defined availableto entities sef of functions which include.but Traininglworkshopsl are not limitedto: seminars the provisionsof PPA Part 1 adviseto Section3, Part contractingentities; 1X Section97 drafting amendmentsto the legislativeand regulatory framework and implementing regulations; administrativeand information Baseline( c) -At ~ systemsfor public procurement the contracting operationsto respondto the entitylevel,the needsof other related . . government systems administrative . . . . - . systemsfor Public (f) Procurement operaitons,and information rlatatu9.a t" 76 implements programmes to - Baseline(b) -At Programme & Training inform government officials and the contracting Programme Programmes private sector institutions on entityievel. the Documents for demand procurement p ppadi ~ Requestfrom Publidprivate traning and Section 3 (t) Private Sector Sector information programmes implemented for government 183 Sufficiently trained - Sustainable Trained ~ Piiiar IV - indicator Auditors on Procurement 9 Baseline (e) iAAA Part 1 Procurement Auditors on Procedures and Quality Control Auditors are Section 16 Training Procurement Monitoring & Control Systems I I I I I I I I requests for.release of funds (e) Budgeting - linewith contract /Stems against contractual obligations system provides for Financial payment terms timely release of interest paid on funds to make Management System in payments Quarterly payments against Progress Cash Plans related contracturai to Contract obligations (BPEMS) Late Payment(PMI No. 14) defined methods of contiact -Baseline (a) - Relevantaproving Administratio administration and quality Procedures are Authorities, & Quality contraoi procedures and defined for Contract Control methods to review and issue PPA Part II undertaking Section PartManagement Mechanism contract amendments in a timel) contract ouiined in contract - Proceedingsas manner Schedules IxSection adminstration responsibilities to Review and include imspection amendments and acceptance procedures. aualitv 77 Ethics and Compliance with Regulatory Framework ID ID1 Procurement Entity - Pillar I IndicatorI - ProcurementPlan Scope of operations covers goods, works, Baseline(a) - - (e g method, Application of services and disposal of assets Scope of packaging.etc) Procurement in line with scope of application applicationand includingsource of Law of the law coverageof the legislativeand part 'I :L:lJunr8ement regulatory Section 14 Procedures framework 1 accordingto Scope and thresholds Act coverage 663 and reiated nethods Procurement 45, Scheduls 4 RT, Sole-Source. Methods 1 83. Part IX etc) Preferencefor open Section 96. Part Adverts and competitive IISecbons14, Approval from the bidding 2 16 (2) Part 111 BoardlMinlsterof lnternaltional Section 35 (3) MoFEP Method competitive 38. Part IV of Procurement procedures 3 Sections39,40 (PMI N0.U ensures anticorruption 12-Baseline (a) - of Ethics Measures provisions on corruption,conflii The legaland Systematicapproval Enforced or interest and unethical regulatory by approving behaviour in tender and contra1 framework tor authorities (ETC). procurement. TRB, CTRB, PPB) includingtender Standard Tender and contract Documents documents, includes provisions PPA Part IX addressingthe Section 92. 93 curruption,fraud. onflict of inteest 78 Complaints, Appeals and DlsDute Mechanism I I I I I I I I the capacity to handle lodged 10 Baseline(a) - and timely Capacityto ~ complaints and enfore decision The existence and handle in a fair, efticient and transparer operation of a -treated/resolved Enforcement complaints complaint review mechanism system that gives Decisions Report ~ participantsin the PPA Part VII, public procurement Sections 79, 81 process a right to (5), Part IX file a cornplaint Section 95 within the framework of an administrative and judicial review orocedure Baseline iorocedures exists and orovide I 1 -Baseline fbl - I IResolution \Resolution I I I tor an efficient and fair process I . Dispute resolution framework Mechanism to resolve disagreements procedures are - Clauses in amicably as well as to enforce included in the p p partVII, ~ Contract the outcomes contract document section 3(q) providingfor an FAA 654, -Documents Dispute resolution efficient and fair Section 66, 67 file process to resolve Contract dispute ~ disputes arising resolution (PMI No during the performance of the 12) of complaints or protests - Baseline(d) - The PPA Part VI1 complaints Confidence in mechanisms private sector Sections 81, investigated Complaints / confidence in the legal and regulatory 89, 90 Part IX Sections -strictly Decisions are Protests enforced and mechanisms framework made public INFORMATION & Information 2A 2A1 -Procurement entity has a Pillar I1- Indicator5 .Bulletin, Website Capacityfor system for initiating and Baseline(a) - A initiating and disseminating procurement system exists for --Adverts Announcements disseminating information including tender invitations, request for proposals and contract award includingtender Information System 79 ufficientnumber performanceof procurement Systems existto ~~~,~~~~~ ~procurement Collection and report regularly collectkey data , MonitoringReport System relatedto Schedule (6c) I oerformanceof the Knowledge of Apex Body ^^ Procurement Planning I I I I I 3A thresholds,whereapplicable apply for selectionof tenderers includinggovernmentowned enterprises dossiers ~ criteria based on 68 Schedule4 s -invitationto Tender etc. ~ 80 by the PrivateSector conducted puliclyaccordingto -Baseline (9). Inviationieners - Public Tender defined procreduresspecified in Submission, recipe1 tender Documenis Opening the tender documents and OPnelng of ~ ~ ~ i ~ -Signed Attendance Process ~ ~ ~ P a r l tenders 1 Public I 1 keeping of tender opening including responsivebids Baseline (8)- Procurement Tender Submission, receipt Pari Sectprocess Openings and opneing of -Tender registers- Bid Evaluation ICONTRACTMANAGEMENT .~ I I I I I i I ~ II II II Planning 8 Mobilisation I II I _,___ denned and reviewed.if I I I I loutcomes andl Implementation I I I I I I 4C1 Project outcomesare - Project delivery Timely Project achieved in a timely manner and reDorts outcomes 81 Annex 6: Review of Contract Sheet Entities visited during field visit VRA 5 140,714,914.- Not Procurement method 4 responsive tenders specified in not specified (Hansa listed as responsive (but all Maritime) although all were non- appear to responsive be goods) Date of opening of tender not accurate (Takoo Ent.; correct date: 06/07/2006 AMA 9 2,054,000,000.- Works Contract administration Files not accessible not specified for validation On 2ndpage only 8 Two samples contracts awarded before Act 663 came into force Ga West 3 Not specified Not Contract sheet empty No data to validate specified (but all appear to be works) Dangme West 10 289,300,000.- Works Dates not filled in for all Of six contracts contracts re tender reviewed one contract date, opening date, and incorrectly classified contracts award date as Shopping. All six had mistakes re number of tenders received and responsive tenders (correct numbers: 313 313 312 414 414 313 414 414 414 313 82 FDB 9 117,000,000.- Goods Full & acceptable NCB on procurement Works contracts performance of computers and accessories: missing Date of invitation to tender, number of tender received and number of responsive tenders incorrect (correct no. of tenders received: 6, correct number of responsive tenders: 1) MoE 10 6,099,000,000.- Goods Full & acceptable Supply of Buses: Works contracts performance Date of invitation to missing tender and date of opening of tender wrong (correct date of opening of tender: 0612112005) Dept of 9 Not provided Works Full & acceptable The indicated number Feeder Roads contracts Performance of tenders received missing incorrect (Correct number of tenders receivedl number of responsive tenders: Kumawu-Temate616 Bompata-Adonte616 EffiduaseTown 717 Agona Town 513 Entities based on desk study Dangme East 10 2,786,700,000.- Works Dates on tenders No check performed Includesone received missingfor contract of 26.8 bn 8110 contracts Cedis MoWater 13 Data available for Goods Resources one contract of Works cells are empty - Works and value 30m C contract amount Housing available for one contract only, responsivenessdata for 5 contracts only. Electricity 4 Data availablefor Goods Morethan half of data No checkperformed Company of one contract of Works cells are empty Ghana alue 1.4 m Energy 1 Data available for Goods Disbursementdata No checkperformed Commission one contract of missing value 25.7m C 83 Ghana Water 11 169,900,000.- Goods Numberof responsive No checkperformed Company Ltd based on amount Works tenders not listed. No. as disbursedfor of tenders received ten contracts missing for four contracts Contract management data missing Driver and 7 389,290,000.- Goods Datesof invitation to No checkperformed Vehicle Works tender for three Licensing contracts missing Authority Data on timely paid invoices missing Universityof 12 Contract amount Goods Data on contracts No checkperformed Ghana only available for Works management and date one contract of 13 of contract award bn C missing in most cases Note: The matrix has been completed on the basis o f a review o f the contract sheets filled out by the assessors commissioned by PPA to do the self assessments. The columns o f the table are elaboratedbelow: The 'Entity' column indicates the name of the entity being assessed The 'No. of Contracts Assessed' column indicates the number o f contracts inspectedbythe PPA assessors (against a target o f ten) The 'Approximate Average Value' column indicates the average contracted value o f the contracts inspected by the PPA assessors The 'Category' column indicates the number o f different contract categories covered by the PPA assessors (against a total o f three: Services, works and goods) The 'Examples of Incomplete Data' indicates examples o f cells not completed in the contract sheets although it i s assumed that the data was available at the time o f the assessment The 'Examples of Unreliability of Data' Column has only been filled out for procurement entities visited by the ERPFMteam. The column indicates examples o fdata entries onthe Contract Sheet that does not correspond with the information inthe actual contract file o f the procurement entity. The information has been establishedon the basis o f spot-checks o f contract files carried out by the ERPFMteam during visits to the Procurement Entities. 84 Annex 7: List of Persons Met Hon. Dr Anthony Akoto Osei MOFEP Minister of State Nana J.B. Siriboe MOFEP f Director Directorof Budget Chief Director Mr. EmmanuelAtubra MOES Snr. ProcurementOfficer Mr. Kwesi Abbey Sam PPA Chairman Mr. A.B.Adjei PPA Chief Executive Dr. Osei Boeh-Ocansey PPA ard member Mr. KwameAntwi PPA Board member Mrs. E. Odartei-Laryea PPA Board member Yvonne Vanderpuye Mr. Eric Appiah Mr. Bennin PPA Sr. Operations Officer DAGICGAD Mr. R.K. Anaglate Mr. R.A.Aseidu Mr. E.B. Lamptey Ag. DAGIEIDNPRME Mr. Richard Qu Ag. DAGIF&A Mrs.Abigail A. Pentsil Audit Service Ag. DAGICAD Audit Service Ag. AAGIRev. Ag ' Mr. K.E. Ghansah Audit AAG Mr. Eddie Boafo Audit Service Ag. AAG/PND Mr. F. Mensah Audit Service AAGIIT Mr. F.A. Akwetey Audit Service AAGICGAD Audit Service AAGlFinal Accts. Audit Service Ag. AAGIFinance Audit Service Dir Mr. Fred Ohene Audit Service DirectodCGAD 85 86 Mr. Tetteh Afoteyyalt_ers _ x _ ^ _ "I- Mr. Mohammed Issah S-E-NDFOUNDATION- __ I - T 1~ - ~ ~ ". Field Officer_- -~ I M_r.S.K,APPi?! I _ ^ I" 1 EMr. Carl Lokko- - I _ - 4 Consultant _ _ 1Mr. JoeTaabazging -__-- I I I 87 Annex 8: Bibliography ; cowl Assessment on Aid Effectiveness,includingAlignment and February 2007 ! i ~ I Harmonisationin the Ghana Water Sector L Crown Agents Ghana Ltd. Final Implementation Planfor Deliveryof Short-Term Procurement October 2006 I 1 and GIMPA Training Modules - - -- --_. . - - I - X I -1 II I ~ " _ ^ _ . -1 I_- __" " ~ "_ I- Daily Graphic "Appeals panel set up to deal with procurement" f 9 I ; Daily Graphic "Board probes delay in announcingbid winner", page 25 16 February 1 2007 1 - - r_" _I 1- -__l_^_. ~ I_-I- I"xI1-_ __x^"._I_ Daily Graphic "Experts discuss public procurement" 17 July2006 j ' Daily Graphic "Procurement Board proposesassistance to students" 12February -..-+-.. ^ - I - " - ~ ~ ~ -2007~ ~ ~ 1! ~ _ " I _-"II I"I Daily Graphic "Procurement Boardto ensure Integrity", page23 27 Septembe;"? 2006 I Daily Guide "Procurement Board Steps Into GCAA Bidding", page 5 19 February 1 - - 2007 I _I Danidal CommunityWater & Value for Mon ast Mu bly, Sanitation Agency - Central ; Water & Sanitation Sector Program Support : +- .".__ -_ _I 111111-11111141_1- _I--_--- 1 - - 1 1 _ _ _ x _ - _ - _ - - - ~ Danida/ CommunityWater & Value for MoneyAudit of New Juaben MunicipalAssembly, Danida 11 SanitationAgency Eastern - Water & Sanitation Sector Program Support II SanitationAgency Region _ _ _ _ - - I_I ..i ___- I-_ - I I Danida/ CommunityWater & , Value for MoneyAudit of DangmeWest DistrictAssembly, D i i d a - Greater July 2005 Water & Sanitation Sector Program Support I Accra Region Danida/ CommunityWater & Value for MoneyAudit of KrachiWest DistrictAssembly, Danida February 2006 , SanitationAgency Volta - Water & Sanitation Sector Program Support Region - _ _ "I 4 Economist IntelligenceUnit* Country Profile 2006 Ghana .-- August2006 I x. _*XI" I I X _".I"_"_ df " -" Economist IntelligenceUnit* Country Report Ghana April 2007 j1 Ghana Civil Service,The Code of Conductfor the Ghana Civil Service November Office of the Headof the I11 civil Service 1999 - - - - --- j Ghana Institution of I . I _ _ _ _ _ I I -_I __I___ I__ ' Code of Ethics Undated I 1 Procurementand Supply Chain Management ' Ghana Institutionof Constitution of Ghana Institutionof Procurementand Supply Chain Undated ' Procurementand Supply Management Chain Management . P _ . I " GIMPA Course Outlinefor Bachelorof Science in Procurementand February 2006 Materials Management I j GIMPA , Course Outlinefor Diploma in Procurementand Materials Undated I ! Management ~---~-.- I i .'_."-..*"% GIMPA Course Outlinefor HNDTop Up in Procurementand Materials February 2006 j ~ --i 1 ." ." Management j ' - . - --. - I* I " "" " I I "-* X I I. .~l-llll __^"""_I_ "III"xx.x--.._III-" ""-11 ""I_ I--1I_ ~ 11" /"GOG.MoFEP* Status of Implementationof STAP/MTAPand Costingfor Capacity November I Buildingto Development Partners, PowerPointpresentation 2006 GoG, MoFEP* Three-Year Strategic Plan, Short Term and MediumTerm Action January 2006 88 -. - .- I" _I x x " InternalAudit Agency - - __ - - -- __ Undated I I --___I- I _I _I & - -- --- - ment ProceduresChecklist -I_ II I - I _I InternalAudit Agency Undated _I_l_l___lI I InternalAudit Agency* ' Support to InternalAudit Agency to improve InternalAuditors Skills - - --- -- - -- - - _ ~ I -I____I_l_l_ -I_ _I " March2007 -- - ___ , Annual Reportfor the Year 2006 - t - - - ' - _______- - _ _ j1 I _I I -I I_ InternalAudit Agency* Final Audit Report Audit of Fuel and Utilities in Public Institutions Undated and OrganisationsWholly or Owned Partially Owned by the I Governmentof Ghanafor the 18 Months Period ended 30 June a __ - - , 2006 _ 1 ,-1 Il_l - t - - ___I I_I I I-_ I InternalAudit Agency* __ - - - _I _ InternalAudit - - Regulations, Draft4 -- 2006 - Developmentof - II I " I _-__--- - I I I____ InternalAudit Agency* InternalAudit Standards InternalAudit Regulations June 2006 - 1 June I and Manualsfor Selected MDAs and MMDAs, prepared by Ernest & I InternalAudit Agency* enue Collection Proceduresat Assin North DistrictAssembly January 2005 i " - - __". - x- _I_ -__- -_ -.I _ _ - June2006 ~ ~ ~ x1 ~ ._-"I ..x._ InternalAudit Agency* Strategic Plan (2007-2009) January 2007 MillenniumsChallenge 7 Fact Sheet (anti-povertycompactwith the Government of Ghana) 1 July 2006 - - - Corporation Ministry of Communication Terms of Referencefor Senior ProcurementSpecialist ' 2006 _ " x I - x I x - I _ - - --- II I Xr - c I.-I I-- ~ OECD-DAC* Guidance Note: Monitoringand Reporting Mechanism - - - - - - 6-; . 1 1 1 April 2007 ~ "- " I x OECD-DAC* Methodologyfor Assessment of National Procurement Systems, 1 July2006 8 Version 4 - - ^ % - - Public Procurement Board "Amendmentof Public ProcurementAct, 2003 (Act 663) Public j I O May 2007 ' Procurement (Amendment)Bill", letter from the Chief Executive to the Hon. Minister, Ministryof Finance and Economic Planningwith attachments includingthe- suggested amendments - ___ ~ - - - _ - I I I_ Public Procurement Board "Submissionof DocumentaryEvidencefor Assessment of MDBS PAF 2006-2008", letter from the Chief Executiveto the MDBS Coordinatorwith attachments Public Procurement Board "Revised Additional Support Document",PPA cover and proposalto 1 19 March 2007 DFlD for additionalsupportto the PPA in the implementationof Act I 663. I Public Procurement Board ' Benchmarking,Monitoring& Evaluation Manual I Undated Public Procurement Board Data of Complaints Receivedby the Public Procurement Board, a undated _- - - . memo - - - - _ _ I I ~ __I _ x - _ _ ( _ _ I x Public Procurement Board Draft Annual Report 2006 _-I I - 4 Public ProcurementBoard Draft Strategic Plan 2007-2009 - _ _ - 1 October2004 I t ocure ard*- lines for Marginsof Preference --.~-------" *---"_--_". ~--.--- 1 I l_ll ~" ___l_l - ~ - ~ " . _ - 1 1 . - - . ~ - ~ ~ ~ " Public ProcurementBoard IndividualAssessment Reportsfor ProcurementEntities Public ProcurementBoard ! List of assessorsand their Groupings, internaldocument Undated 1 Public Procurement Board j List of assessors, internal document 11 Undated Public ProcurementBoard List of NewspaperPublications,unpublished briefing document I i May2007 j nrenard hv the PPA I ennl ad Piihlie Affairs nireetnrate 1 Public Procurement Board Maiden Press Briefinaof the Public Procurement Board - Februaw 2007 Public Procurement Board - - . - - j Undated . I. . ." Membershipof the Appeals and Complaints Panel, letter -1. ~ XI _ " _" I " ~ - _ " ~ _ I 89 Public ProcurementBoard Pillars/ Indicators/Baselines,screen-printfrom the PPME-database Undated 1 - I_ I j Public ProcurementBoard 1 October2006 - - ProcurementTraining Modules, descriptionfor modules 1-25 - _ . I _ ~ ~. ~ 8 t ~~ --I "_i ~ " ~ ~ _j ~ I -"-Ix _ _ x . . Public Procurement Board - ProposedAmendmentto the Public ProcurementAct 663, memo Undated - - x - I I . ~~ Public ProcurementBoard Proposed Rules and proceduresfor the Establishmentof the October2006 Appeals and ComplainsAppeal _ " - x Public Procurement Board e- sted in the Ghanaian Times, page 23 16 December - - - -- __ 12005 I I ' Public Procurement Board Public ProcurementBoardAdvertisements,unpublished briefing I__"-I- Public ProcurementBoard , Sharingthe Public Procurement PerformanceAssessment r Public ProcurementBoard Some Reports/ Featuresof Web-Based E-Procurement Planning , - . . I l _ ^ L I Public ProcurementBoard -_ Statisticson Workshop/ Training on Act 663, memo I May2007 - 2 L ~ ~" Ix- ~ I- ~ ~" I _ _ - " _Ix ~ -+ " Public Procurement Board The PPME Tool main components,handout Undated i March2007 1 - - - - - I_ --- 1 i 1 Public ProcurementBoard , 1 Web-Based ProcurementPlanningSoftware Training & User Guide Procurement Entities ? - _. .I " ~for - " - "'.-__ _Ix - L I _ - - _~ I x _ " I_ _ x -.__- ~ I Public ProcurementBoard* - _ _ Assessment Report - . -_- {1 April 20 I - _ " x " I 1 X ^ I _ I " 1 - L i _* "I -I__ ~ " .-_"I_." _I_ ^I I . . - Public ProcurementBoa - __ - ' October 2004 _ I I Public ProcurementBoa " - ~. _ _ _ - - - - I ) ( I I _ x x x x _ I Public ProcurementBoard* Standard-Bidding Documents(availablefrom PPAghana.org) - - - - 111 i - Public ProcurementBoard/ Training of Assessors on PPME : August 2006 IDEAS-Centre Republicof Ghana ArbitrationAct 1 1961 Republicof Ghana Audit Service Act, 2000 - - 2000 " . , " _ I - Republicof Ghana Establishmentof Career Path and Career Development of October 2006 Procurement Professionalsand Practitionersin the Public/ Civil Sevice , Republicof Ghana EvidenceDecree (N.R.C.D 323) i 1975 Republicof Ghana : Public Office Holders (Declarationof Assets and Disqualification)Act I i (Act 550) ~,",-"-"~..-.-,-.,I"_ l".-l.l__l"-, . _ _ I ; _ _ x _ _ " I _ . . ~ ~ , _ . _ ~ " 1 . . _ _ . ~ _ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I _ ~ " ~ ~ ~ _ _ ~ ~ ~ . " ~ " ~ Republicof Ghana* : BudgetStatement and Economicpolicy of the Governmentof Ghana ..-_""".-."...~-~.-".-"-- i for the 2007 FinancialYear ..""^-;_"-* 12006 .-,, __-,-... "~--"___lll- ,"--,-,,. ~-l.-l.ll-~.l_l--"_x~-.-"" ~,~ I 1 l . - Republicof Ghana* j Constitutionof Ghana PI992 Republicof Ghana* I Growth and Poverty ReductionStrategy (GPRS II) 2006-2006, \1c November 2005 _ " National Development Planning Commission~"~ - _.I ~~~. - I " I_ I^ I - - " - . Republicof Ghana* InternalAudit Agency Act, 2003 - ~ : December 2003 Republicof Ghana* Public ProcurementAct (Act 663)- 1 2003 x x ~ - _- I blic of Ghana Public Recordsand ArchivesAdministration Act (Act 535) 1997 " - " - __." "." . "" " Republicof Ghana* Regulations - Public ~ " I Procurement(Act 663) DRAFT :I Undated Republicof Ghana* , WhistleblowerAct (Act 720) 12006 90 Republic of Ghana,Auditor- ' Background Information,handout May2007 General's Office b - _ " - _ _ x _ x I " ,_" I Republic of Ghana,Auditor- PerformanceAudit Guidelines May 20 General's Office -__- - - Republic of Ghana,Auditor- PerformanceAudit Report of the Auditor-Generalon Procurementof September General's Office Drugs and Other Items in the Ministry-of- Health _ _ I - _ - 2006 _I_ I I I _I Republic of Ghana,Auditor- PerformanceAudit Report of the Auditor-Generalon the August 2004 General's Office Construction and Rehabilitationof School Buildings in Second Cycle Educational Institutions Republic of Ghana,Auditor- PerformanceAudit Report of the Auditor-Generalon the Fundingof July2006 1 General's Office the Ghana Road Fund Republic of Ghana, Auditor- PerformanceAudit Report of the Auditor-Generalon the June 2006 General's Office Managementof Foreign Scholarships Republic of Ghana,Auditor- PerformanceAudit Report of the Auditor-Generalon the Provisionof June 2006 General's Office Safe DrinkingWater Republic of Ghana,Auditor- PerformanceAudit Report of the Auditor-Generalon the Provision General's Office - _ _ and Managementof Government Bungalows ----- _. "___.- - - ~ _ I _I ~ ~ I-__.I ~~ - x _ x - -I I - Republic of Ghana,Auditor- Progress Reporton Triggers and Targets as of 30 April 2007 General's Office (appendixonly) Republic of Ghana,Auditor- Report of the Auditor-General on the PublicAccounts of Ghana June 2006 General's Office (ConsolidatedFund),for the year ended 31 December2005 - ____- - -_ 1I - ' September -I_ I Republic of Ghana, Auditor- Report of the Auditor-Generalon the PublicAccounts of Ghana General's Office (Ministries, Departmentsand Other Agencies of the Central Government),for the year ended 31 December2005 12006 i Republic of Ghana,Auditor- Report of the Auditor-Generalon the PublicAccounts of Ghana I October2006 General's Office (Ministries, Departmentsand OtherAgencies of the Central - - _-Government),for h -~ the year ended 31 December2004 1 - I - x I " . 7 SEND Where Did Ghana's HlPC Funds Go? Assessing HlPC Expenditures 1 ^ - I July 2006 - ~~- in PovertyAlleviation 2002-2004 - - __ - 1 --- I" " _ _ _ ) ( --"_;_I_ ~ " ~ ~ l_x _I -"I 111 I. I ~ 6 x ~ Shawbell Consulting InstitutionalSkills and Training NeedsAssessment,Acts 654, 658 3 July 200 and 663 i ! i - The Ghanaian Observer "Public ProcurementContributes 14percentto Ghana's GDP. PPA 1 19 February ~ I - - " __ 2007 ._" - I -."..3. ~ ~ F-" I_ _ - _ x ~ ~ I_--I " " -I*.- I The GhanaianTimes "Procurement Board appoint Appeals C'ttee", page 25 19 February ; - 7 - -- - - I2007 _ - - - f - II__ I The Statesman "PPA to equip procurement personnelwith modernskills", page 9 20 February _ _ _ - - " -_- " - --- --_ - 12007- - - _ . . - - . . - _ ~ I ~ 1 - 1 I__x- Transparency International* _-" - Press Kit for the 2006 Releaseof the Corruption Perception Index " " _ . - - -_- - 1 x - ,_l" - . ~ "" ~ I."-. World Bank - - , Ghana: Country Financial AccountabilityAsse j June 2004 , ~ ^ " m L X . I * - World Bank Internal memo re Ghana: RegionalOperationalCommittee Review I February 2007 Meeting - FifthPoverty ReductionSupport (PRSC-5) World Bank* 1 Albania Country FiduciaryAssessment, OperationalPolicy and - August 2006 1 ice x ^ World Bank* --__~~---" Ghana, Country ProcurementAssessment Report _I_ ~ _I-^- fl l-~lllll^-_ ~ World Bank* Project Appraisal Documenton a ProposedCredit (...) to the I Reoublic of Ghana for a Micro.Small and Medium EnterDriseProiect i 2005 I * electronic version available 91 Annex 9: InternetResources doingbusiness,org Doing Business Indicators, World Bank Group ghana.gov.gh Government of Ghana ghana-anticorruption.org Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition ghanaweb.com Ghana web, nationwide commercial portal graphicghana.com The Daily Graphic, Ghanaian daily newspaper rncc.gov The MillenniumChallenge Corporation mofep.gov.gh Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ghana ndpc.gov.gh National Development PlanningCommission, Ghana oecd.org The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development parliament.gh Parliament of Ghana pppghana.org Public Procurement BoardGhana thestatesmanonline.com The Statesman, Ghanaian daily newspaper tighana.org Ghana Integrity Initiative transparency.org Transparency International worldbank.org/ghana Ghana section of the World Bank site 92