In a proactive move toward enhancing transparency and efficient procurement processes, the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) has organised an eight-day training programme focused on Procurement Guidelines and Practices.
The training programme was specifically designed for Heads of Department, Administrators, Project Investigators (PIs), and officers involved in the processing of procurement requests within units of the College.
The aim was to equip them with a solid foundation in procurement fundamentals and foster a deep understanding of procurement guidelines. The training was also geared towards better preparing the College officials to navigate the intricacies of acquiring goods and services, ultimately contributing to the operational excellence of the College.
According to the College Materials Officer, Mrs. Elizabeth Borley Amoah under whose leadership the training programme was conducted, her office took the initiative to organise the training to enhance transparency, efficiency, and adherence to procurement practices and processes.
Mrs. Amoah who was also a facilitator during the sessions opened the training by explaining to participants details of public procurement and the legal backing it has according to the 1992 constitution of Ghana.
“To start with, public procurement is the process of obtaining goods, works and services needed by an organisation to undertake its productive activities using public funds. As long as you are using public funds you are required to apply the procurement laws of Ghana. Procurement is done in three categories which are goods, works and technical services”, she stated.
Mrs. Amoah went on to discuss the objectives of the Procurement Act. According to her “procurement unifies and harmonises procurement activities in all public sectors; the act aims at ensuring that public procurement is carried out in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner; procurement ensures state funds are used economically, judiciously and effectively and lastly, to obtain the best value for money spent.”
The College Materials Officer enlightened the group on the various procurement methods and thresholds of the University. The threshold for various goods and services which does not exceed, 200,000 Ghana cedis was discussed. These included perishable and non-perishable, technical services.
“The University of Ghana, in line with the Public Procurement Act, has deemed the threshold of price quotations of goods, that are perishable and non-perishable at a ceiling of 100,000 Ghana cedis, for works the limit is 200,000 Ghana cedis and for technical services, up to 50,000 Ghana cedis”, Mrs. Amoah announced during the opening session.
Parts of the sessions also focused on National Competitive Tendering, International Corporative Tendering among others.
Each day’s training session was followed by interactive sessions with participants engaging the facilitators with thought-provoking questions.
The training programme which was attended by the College officials in batches started on September 5, and concluded on September 15, 2023.
