1Agyeman Ofori | 2Hanson Obiri-Yeboah | 3David Ackah (PhD)
1Takoradi Technical University | 2Accra Technical University | 3African University College of Communication
Abstract
Most countries employ e-procurement to enhance transparency and accountability in the processes of public procurement. The basic idea of implementing e-procurement is to procure the right items at the right place, with the right quantities, right qualities, at the right time with the right price. Ghana has also adopted the e-procurement strategy to curb corruption. This current study therefore assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of e-procurement in curbing corruption in the Ghanaian public procurement processes. The target population for the study is stakeholders of public contracts in the Greater Accra Region with a sample size of 400. The study revealed that procurement policy is always being reviewed to ensure it supports the e-procurement vision and objectives. Also, e-procurement aspects of policy are being linked to policies for e-commerce and e-government. The study revealed that the current procurement system is better than before. The study discovered that the current system is doing very well in terms of performance rating as part of the procedure in large procurement projects. The study revealed a perfect negative correlation between e-procurement and corruption in the public sector of Ghana. There was also a perfect negative relationship between contract administration and supervision processes through e-procurement system and corruption. Also, all the e-procurement evaluation variables are negatively related to corruption. The model indicates that e-procurement predicts about 99.2% of the reduction variation in corruption at 99.9% confidence level. The model also indicates that when e-procurement is implemented successfully, corruption reduces by 0.394. The findings of the study suggest that in order to reduce corrupt practices in the public sector, the government has to continue to use e-procurement in all its deals. Also, for a better procurement practice, there should be an effective procurement policy that is always reviewed to ensure it supports the e-procurement vision and objectives.
Keywords: Corruption, E-procurement, Public Sector, ICT, Value for Money, Procurement Acts, Procurement System, Development Procurement, Electronic Procurement.
