Causes and Costs of Procurement Irregularities in Ghana’s District Assemblies

Abstract

The Ghana government introduced procurement regulation in 2003 to govern the public procurement function in the country. However, high levels of irregularities still abound in the performance of the procurement function. The Auditor-General's reports for the years 2014 to 2018, revealed procurement irregularities at the country's District Assemblies. These irregularities could pose high corruption risk to the procurement process by creating fertile grounds for fraud and corruption in public procurement practice at the District Assemblies. Although articles have been written about procurement practice in Ghana, not much has been said about the practice at the district level. This article therefore seeks to fill this gap. The article throws a critical searchlight on public procurement practice at the country's District Assemblies. The methodology employed is a doctrinal one whereby the adherence or otherwise to public procurement laws of the country by the District Assemblies is looked at. The analysis of procurement practice at the assemblies has revealed that the hub of the matter facing public procurement in Ghana is the elusiveness of implementation of the tenets of the procurement regime. Having identified the weaknesses in the procurement practice, the article suggests palliatives by resorting to innovations reported in other jurisdictions to address the gap.