GHANA Country Profile

Public Procurement and Contracting

Individual Corruption

According to the Ghana Integrity Initiative 2005, the majority of households identify that the government favours bidders based on their loyalty to the government, underhanded activities, nepotism and ethnicity when awarding contracts.

Business Corruption

According to the Public Procurement Act 2003, awards of contracts are required to be tendered and conducted by tender award committees. According to the Auditor General, the Public Procurement Act has reduced corruption in public procurement significantly. However, although the framework guiding Ghana's public procurement is said to be among the most comprehensive in the developing world, companies should note that delays in the completion of projects are common due to long procurement processes.

According to the US Department of State 2009, companies cannot expect complete transparency in locally funded contracts, which are continuously pointed to as 'hot spots' for corruption. US companies report that they have been asked for 'favours' in return for facilitating business transactions, and the Ghanaian government has cancelled international tender awards in the name of national interest in the past. According to Global Integrity 2009, the legal framework to prohibit companies proven to have bribed in a procurement process is not enforced in practice, nor is there a mechanism for monitoring assets, incomes and lifestyles of public procurement officers. Companies are recommended to use a specialised public procurement due diligence tool to help mitigate corruption risks associated with public procurement in Ghana.

Political Corruption

According to Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2009, there have been cases of grand corruption in Ghana in relation to public procurement. The tender award committees that are responsible of conducting the tendering and awarding of contracts are chaired by the political leaders of the local authorities, including the district chief executives (DCE). In 2007, when DCE Alhaji M. H. Tijani from the Yendi district was accused of directing contracts to his own construction company, he claimed that the contracts were awarded and executed on behalf of the then ruling party, using borrowed documents of private companies to generate funds for the party. Allegedly, other companies affiliated with the ruling party had also benefited from special consideration in the award of contracts.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the diversion of public funds to companies, individuals, or groups due to corruption a score of 3.1 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very common' and 7 'never occurs').

- Business executives give the favouritism of government officials towards well-connected companies and individuals when deciding upon policies and contracts a score of 2.5 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'always show favouritism' and 7 'never show favouritism').

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- 61% of companies expect to give gifts to secure a government contract.

- In order to secure a government contract, companies are expected to give a gift worth around 8% of the contract.