Corruption in Public Procurement in Ghana: societal norm or deviant behaviour?

Abstract

The paper probes corruption in public procurement in Ghana. The research, which focused on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country, revealed widespread corruption in the public service of Ghana. Notable procurement related corrupt practices unraveled included influence peddling, inflating contract sums, payment for non-existing contracts, deliberate contract splitting, multiple payments for contracts, use of phantom vendors and misapplication of public funds. The study further noted that some principal officers such as Coordinating Directors, Finance Officers, Budget and Planning officers, Engineers, Internal Auditors, Stores and Procurement officers, as well as government representatives misappropriate funds meant for development projects in their catchment areas, while staff looked on unconcerned. The research also discovered how Internal and external auditors ostensibly "train" principal officers on how to conceal corrupt practices in return for money and other rewards. The study is significant because the concept of decentralization was introduced to enable MMDAs to effectively and efficiently manage resources for the development of their communities. The concept has been defeated as some public servants connive with external auditors and other stakeholders to amass wealth at the expense of the generality of the people. A worrying phenomenon is the culture of silence by employees who are witnesses to most of these corrupt practices. Indeed, our findings show that most public servants are nonchalant about the act of corruption perpetuated by colleague workers. Essentially, some employees see nothing wrong with their principal officers and other colleagues indulging in acts of corruption, their reason being that they might do same when they assume similar positions in future. With this revelation, the onus is on government not to only adopt a combative strategy in dealing with the incidence of corruption. Rather, it is recommended that a blend of combative and the moral suasion strategies be adopted if the fight against corruption is to achieve desired results.

Effect of anti-corruption systems’ logic on corruption manifestations in project planning and execution in Nigeria

“…The effects of the whistleblower policy and the Treasury Single Account on manifestations of corruption in project planning and execution were exceptionally weak and restricted to tax evasion, falsely increasing the quantities of certified works, influence peddling, solicitation, and non-compliance with contracts. The findings additionally demonstrated that every one of the SACS is valuable as anti-corruption measures in project planning and execution, but increased access is the most useful system (Dza, et al, 2018;Aduwo, et al, 2020). Strategic measures that would altogether lessen manifestations of corruption in project planning and execution are increased information access, a cashless policy, due process, and political accountability.…”

“…IPPIS protects public personnel against corrupt risks in the former system or manual salary calculation (Folorunso and Simeon, 2021). Public procurement due process controls public construction projects and fights corruption in project planning and procurement, promoting procurement integrity (Ebekozien, 2020;Dza, et al, 2018). No anti-corruption system is all-encompassing.…”

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

“…Dza et al expressed the view that despite the promulgation of the Public Procurement Act 663 (as amended), public procurement in Ghana is still fraught with abuse such as the use of phantom vendors, false claims, and presentation of fictitious invoices for payment. [34] Through connivance between staff and suppliers, incomplete orders not meeting required specifications are accepted, with receiving slips indicating that a full order with the required specifications was delivered.…”

Exploring the anti‐corruption abilities of e‐procurement in Ghanaian mining companies

“…These studies established various lists of e‐procurement anti‐corruption factors in those countries. In Ghana, researchers (Addo, 2019; Dza et al, 2018; Eric & Dadzie, 2019; Osei‐Tutu et al, 2019; Ofori & Fuseini, 2020; Sarpong et al, 2018) have largely studied critical success factors (CSFs) that enhance the adoption of e‐procurement. Studies on the capability of e‐procurement to curb procurement fraud and corruption are non‐existent.…”