Stakeholders in the fight against corruption have met to develop strategies to increase the implementation of the Open Contracting Data Standards (OCDS) practices among government and the private sectors in Ghana.
The meeting, which was engineered by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) sought to identify advocacy strategies for the implementation of the OCDS and to increase usage of the Ghana Electronic Procurement System (GHANEPS) by procuring entities.
The two-day meeting was organised for selected public sector, the Public Procurement Authority, the Civil Society Organisations, and the Media committed to the agenda of open contracting.
The OCDS seeks to make available, information on the entire contracting process to the public so that citizens or stakeholders could easily access information on contracts awarded and monitor their performances.
Mr Kwesi Boateng Assumeng, Programmes Officer at the GACC said the meeting was part of a project dubbed: “Strengthening Disclosure and Citizen Participation to Improve Value for Money in Public Contracts in Africa”.
The project, he said was being implemented by the GACC in partnership with the Africa Freedom for Information Centre (AFIC) with funding support from William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
He said the meeting sought to increase proactive disclosure of procurement related information by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)in accordance with OCDS practice.
Mr Assumeng said, the strategies suggested by the stakeholders would be converted into a framework of action with timelines for implementation.
As strategic measures to ensuring effective implementation of the OCDS, the participants initiating dialogue on the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of PPA, increase public sensitisation, and instituting national campaign among others.
