A draft Procurement Practicing bill – a bill to regulate and licence the practice of procurement in the country— is currently undergoing revisions and stakeholder reviews before heading to Parliament in the first quarter of this year, Collins Agyemang Sarpong, President of the Ghana Institute of Procurement and Supply (GIPS), has disclosed.
The bill, according to the GIPS boss, will promote ethical and responsible conduct in the procurement space to curtail the surging financial irregularities in both public and private institutions.
In the meantime, he has encouraged procurement and supply practitioners to be resolute in their daily dealings and not succumb to pressures that will lead them to engage in unethical practices and activities which go a long way to tarnish the procurement profession’s image.
Also, to tackle the alarming rise in financial irregularities, the astute procurement practitioner has encouraged that chief executives and heads of both state and private institutions must take a keen interest and ensure only fit and proper hands are recruited to run the procurement function of their organisations.
“No square pegs in round holes; non-procurement professionals should stay away from heading and working in the procurement department of an organisation,” he said in an interview.
“Most of them [without the requisite expertise] become overwhelmed when faced with complex and technical procurement and contracting processes for goods, works and services,” he added.
According to Mr. Sarpong, procurement and supply – whether in a private or public organization – must be viewed as a strategic function that must be well-managed by organisations to help achieve higher profitability and efficient use of financial resources.
“Is it not strange for organisations to lowly rank the managers of the function that controls about 50 to 70 % of organisations revenues or expenditure?” he quizzed.
The GIPS boss asserted that procurement and inventory management are now a strategic function, and therefore it would be suicidal for it to be left in the hands of any other staff or a fresh graduate without the requisite expertise and experience.
Mr. Sarpong therefore called for strong academia-industry collaboration to ensure a well-rounded education for procurement and supply students, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
GIPS boss picks up top award
Meanwhile, the astute procurement practitioner has been recognised with the ‘Outstanding Professional Achievement in the Field of Marketing and Procurement’ award at the Centenary Dinner and Awards Night organised by the Ghana Chapter of the University of Leicester (UK) Alumni Association, on the theme ‘The Future is Ours to Change. Celebration of 100 Years of Change’.
The citation accompanying his award read: “This award is in recognition of your remarkable achievements, complemented by a history of outstanding contribution to the field of Marketing and Procurement throughout your career.
“It feels good to have a totally different group of intellectuals look at one of their own as an alumnus of the University of Leicester-UK practicing in an entirely different field, and recognise the strategic contributions this person is giving to the growth and development of our profession and country,” Mr. Sarpong said of the recognition.
