The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has allayed some fears that the introduction of the electronic procurement system will create job losses.
The Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS) was launched in 2019 to facilitate public procurement processes. Following the implementation of the electronic procurement system, a section of the public, especially procurement officers expressed the fear of losing their jobs.
But Thomas K. Bondzi, Head of the I.T Department at the Public Procurement Authority disagrees.
According to Mr. Bondzi, workers at the authority or procurement officers will only move from the manual procurement process to working on an online platform.
“No, there will not be any job losses. The people who are currently working in the government institutions are the same people who are going to use it. We are not going to employ people because of E-procurement. Procurement officers in the institutions, heads of institutions, and suppliers are the same people who are going to use the system. We will create some manual processes alongside the online process. So, it is not going to affect somebody’s job or role.”
Mr. Bondzi stated that the electronic procurement system will cut down costs, increase transparency, and “it is faster, easier to use, and shorten procurement processes as compared with the manual process.”
Despite its enormous benefits over the manual procurement processes, Mr. Bondzi said the lack of internet connectivity possess a challenge to the electronic procurement system.
He disclosed this to A1 Radio in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital during a three-day training for heads of some public and private institutions on the electronic procurement system.
The 40 beneficiaries included procurement officers and Civil Society Organizations from Bolgatanga municipality, Bongo, and Talensi districts.
It was organized by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and the Participatory Action for Rural Development Alternatives (PARDA), an NGO with funding from the Hewlett Foundation through Global Integrity.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Bolgatanga|Ghana
