International Diploma

ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF THE PROCUREMENT ACT (663) ON PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN ASHANTI REGION

BY ADU SARFO, PATRICK (B.Ed Social Studies)

A Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND PLANNING Department of Planning College of Architecture and Planning

May, 2011

CERTIFICATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the MSc in Development Policy and Planning and that to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of the University, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text.

ADU SARFO PATRICK (20066331, PG 2000208)

………………….. Signature

…………….. Date

Certified by: Prof. S.E. Owusu Supervisor …………………… Signature …………….. Date

Certified by: Dr. Imoro Braimah Head of Department …………………… Signature …………… Date

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ABSTRACT The government has since 2001 made various efforts to correct the uncontrolled expenditure of public funds that characterised the national economy and led to a rather unstable economic climate. The government therefore set itself the task of regulating expenditure and instilling discipline in public finances through Public Procurement Act (663) and Financial Administration Act (654). According to Osafo-Marfo (2003) government embarked upon an exercise to reform the Public Procurement System in 1996 as an integral part of a wider Public Financial Management Reform Programme (PUFMARP). Public procurement accounts for about 50% to 70% of total government expenditure, represents 14% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounts for about 24% of total imports (Ministry of Finance, 2003). This study sought to find out how far the Public Procurement Act has achieved transparency in the use of state resources, causes of delays in the...