By Rosemary Wayo
Tamale, July 28, GNA – A training on Procurement Laws and Procedures for Procurement and Finance Officers among other stakeholders under the Gulf of Guinea Northern Region Social Cohesion (SOCO) project has begun in Tamale.
The three-day training is aimed at educating them on procedures to enable them to carry out procurement activities in line with donor requirements under the SOCO project.
It is organised by the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
The SOCO project is a US$450 million multi-country project, aimed at providing support for the northern part of four Gulf of Guinea countries, to improve socio-economic and climate resilience.
The countries include Ghana, Togo, Cote D’ Ivoire and Benin.
It is funded by the World Bank with US$ 150 million credit facility allocation to the government of Ghana.
Mr Daniel Botwe, Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, whose speech was read on his behalf during the opening of the training, said it was to build the capacity of procurement officers, heads of works as well as project focal persons to ensure smooth procurement processes in implementing the project.
He said the Ministry in collaboration with the 48 beneficiary Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), launched the procurement of 582 sub-projects in various areas, including social infrastructure, markets and water systems.
He expressed hope that the implementation of the SOCO project would lead to increased job creation, climate resilience and cross-border trade.
Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, whose speech was read on his behalf, said the effective management of public procurement activities of government and donor-funded projects was crucial to ensuring value for money, transparency and accountability.
He called for the need to employ procurement strategies that ensured gender equality and sustained the environment.
Madam Pamela Adofo Ansong, Focal Person for the SOCO project, said the procurement training was significant in ensuring that stakeholders complied with the World Bank regulations.
Alhaji Abdulai Yaquob, Dean of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the Northern Region, said MMDAs were mandated to ensure utmost commitment to the project deliverables to match specifications and required quality.
GNA