Mary Awelana Addah, the Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has called for urgent reforms to address the rising prevalence of single sourcing procurement practices within Ghana’s public sector.
In a recent interview, Madam Addah emphasised the need for a shift towards more competitive tendering processes in public procurement.
She expressed concern over the current procurement landscape, where a substantial portion of contracts are awarded through single sourcing.
According to the GII Executive Director, nearly 85 percent of public procurement is conducted via single sourcing, raising significant red flags regarding fairness and accountability.
Madam Addah pointed out that single sourcing is particularly concerning in critical sectors such as education and healthcare. She noted that procurement for school materials, textbooks, and health items often occurs through this method.
“Out of the total procurement window, almost 85 percent of it is done through a single source. And if it is a single source, it means there are a lot of compromises being reached.
“If people are buying school materials, textbooks, and the rest in the education sector, health items, and we are procuring them through single source procurement, while the IMF has recommended that we do a lot more of the competitive tendering, then it means we are compromising on the regime and that affects mostly the private sector.”
The call for reform comes as part of GII’s broader efforts to combat corruption and promote transparency in Ghana’s public sector.
