Yesterday’s civil society encounter with the President was arguably one of the most productive l have witnessed in a decade. It was good giving the opportunity to our compatriots from the countryside, especially all the women who distinguished themselves with those thoughtful probing questions on health, education illegal mining and cultural practices that demeaned women- witchcraft.
The big reveal for me was the President’s bold and honest acknowledgement of the Fourth Estate report which raised red flags over procurement practices under the Big Push programme, which preferred the extensive use of sole sourcing for majority of the contracts leading to possible cost inflation.
The President is right when he says “while sole sourcing is legal in certain circumstances under our current procurement law, we all agree that open, transparent tenders are always preferable for achieving competitive pricing and value for money.”(Citinewsonline)
IMANI and ACEP analysed approximately 1000 contracts in the nine years prior to the second coming of JM and 95% of them did not meet basic procurement standards.
The president has rightly asked for an inquiry into the matter with a promise of reform to predominantly adopt competitive bidding process for procurement of goods and services.
I would encourage the president to ensure a root and branch approach to sanitising the entire public sector of dodgy, collusive and corrosive procurement practices. One such sector which has been raided by unseen political hands hiding behind administrative directives to rail road legitimate contracts and take over is the insurance sector.
Speaking to key stakeholders in Ghana’s insurance sector three days ago, Sir Sam Jonah minced no words when he said “There is a growing and deeply troubling pattern of political and socio-economic interference in the conduct of insurance business in Ghana,” he said. “What was once an occasional disruption has… become something more systemic. More embedded. More dangerous.”( MyJoyOnline)
According to Sir Sam,” contracts are increasingly being cancelled or reassigned based not on performance or merit, but on political directives and personal connections. “Insurance portfolios, particularly those of state entities, are moved not through competitive tender or professional selection, but through personal access and political leverage,” he revealed.( MyJoyOnline)
9. In a formal petition I presented to the President yesterday, titled “Safeguarding Procurement Integrity, Market Confidence, and National Risk Governance in Ghana’s Insurance Sector”,
I stated that across multiple Insurance institutions, we at IMANI observe:
A. Shifts in renewal behaviour without clear evidence of competitive tendering
B. Reduced participation of non-SIC insurers in major state-linked placements
C. Increasing perception of predetermined outcomes in procurement processes
D. Emergence of formal petitions from market participants, including GLICO General Insurance, raising concerns about market distortion and regulatory neutrality.
10. These developments in our view, IMANI that is, suggest that policy encouragement may, in practice, be evolving into operational direction.
11. I reminded the President that “Notably, this is not the first time such concerns have arisen. In 2014, Ghana Insurers Association through the National Insurance Commission formally petitioned Your Excellency over a similar issue regarding the allocation of state insurance business. At the time, Your Excellency intervened with clarity, reversing the directive and reaffirming that placements must be guided by merit, value for money, and competitive process. That the issue has resurfaced during your return to office underscores a deeper structural persistence, but also affirms that you have the credibility, precedent, and institutional memory to correct this drift decisively.”
12. I know the President listens and he will.
