The Deputy Minority Leader, James Kludze Avedzi, had argued that government’s decision to totally forgo sole-sourcing in awarding government contracts might delay critical projects since sole-sourcing has its own benefits.

[contextly_sidebar id=”TB9HoA0XOAvL5I60cbM7d032gU1BL1Ie”]Mr. Avedzi revealed that going through the normal tendering process, could take weeks and in some cases months, which might lead to unnecessary delays.

“…Anything you want to procure, you have to go through these processes and sole sourcing is going to make governance so difficult for them…I wish them well; but I have my doubts and I believe that it is going to put them in a tight corner, and it will even have negative effects on this country,” Mr. Avedzi explained.

But speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Akoto Osei rubbished these suggestions, saying government should shun the idea of resorting to sole sourcing, since it does not encourage quality and competition.

“I don’t know why Ghana should be an exception. The regimes make sole sourcing an exception not the norm. Governments everywhere go through competitive bidding and it doesn’t delay the process and programmes of governments everywhere so I don’t know why Ghana should be an exception.”

“We don’t give value for money and that is why it is only an exception. When it becomes the norm then you know government is being cheated and that is why we go for competitive bidding. Good governance requires competition.”

MP calls for more power for procurement authority

The Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament, Adwoa Safo, had earlier called for the amendment of the public procurement act to give the Procurement Authority, the powers to conduct value for money auditing on sole-sourced projects.

She described as sad, revelations by the Auditor General’s annual reports that 80 percent of the procurement malpractices are centered on sole sourcing.

“From 2012 to 2014 when I was on the public accounts committee, about 80% of their recommendations to parliament are procurement malpractices… So I think that if the law is there, you need also a policy direction. And I think that, that is the first step that the president has given us in his state of the nation address.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Sole-sourcing hinders competition – Akoto Osei appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking at a rally in the Ablekuma North Constituency on Tuesday, President Mahama asked Dr. Bawumia to reveal the cost of the exercise, saying since the latter was a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana at the time of the exercise, he should be able to tell Ghanaians how much it cost government to undertake the exercise.

[contextly_sidebar id=”fC0NLWC89Xdwsp80QwjwauvMgYEDUlm8″]“Do we remember the cedi redenomination under President Kufuor. During that time, someone [Bawumia] was the Deputy Bank of Ghana and uptill now, even me as a President do not know the cost of the redenomination exercise.

“Uptill today, no Ghanaian knows the cost of the redenomination exercise and the same people come and say someone is incompetent. When you redenominated the cedi how much did it cost us? Simple things like these you cannot tell us and you have the nerve to come and talk about corruption. Look in the mirror and look at yourselves,”he said.

But Mr. Akoto Osei in a sharp rebuttal dismissed the claims by the President, saying there is enough documentation by the Central Bank on the redenomination exercise.

“…So if a President says he as a President doesn’t know, then it is either the people are not educating him well…He has appointed a Governor.All that he needs to do is to call the Governor and ask for that information. I am surprised the President http://vhealthportal.com/product/luvox/ will even make such a statement. He is the President of the country and he has appointed a certain governor, so why is he asking Dr. Bawumia? This information has been in the public domain for years. His advisers are not educating him well or he is being petty. ..The records are in the Bank of Ghana.”

Bawumia slams Mahama 

Running mate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, has also responded to President Mahama’s claims , describing it as a “demonstration of incompetence.”

In a Facebook post, he also added a link to a Daily Graphic report from 2007, that put the cost of the redenomination exercise at GHc 66.2 million.

Find below the full Facebook post.

Mr. President, care to read?

Today’s request for disclosure on the 2007 redenomination is another demonstration of incompetence. Apart from the fact that the then Governor disclosed the cost as far back as 2007, if the President really wanted to find out the cost of the redenomination, he could simply have asked his VEEP who was Bank ofGhana Governor, especially when the President was Head of the Economic Management Team between 2009 and 2012.

Such petty propaganda should be beneath someone of the stature of a President. It is clear he is very poorly briefed, but when a President decides to join the bandwagon of propaganda , he only ends up embarrassing himself.

Moving on, can the President (with the same zeal) and his Economic Management Team respond to the 170 statements contained in my last lecture?

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline,com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Mahama’s ‘redenomination politics’ petty – Akoto Osei appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.