The Western Regional Office of Ghana Water Company Limited has chalked some notable milestones with regards to procurement transparanecy, zero accountability and citizens participation.
The company was graded above average during a survey conducted using the Infrastructure Transparency Index mechanism under the Infrastructure Transparanecy Initiative,(CoST).
The CoST approach works to enhance transparency accountability and participation in the procurement of works particularly in the public sector so as to arrive value for money And the delivery of quality structures across member countries and subnational levels.
The survey, conducted within five months sampled 30 public infrastructure projects from 15 participating Procuring Entities in the Western Region to complements the ongoing work aimed at strengthening infrastructure governance through the use of CoST’s Infrastructure Transparency Initiative Index (ITI).
The ITI is an evaluation instrument used in measuring the level of infrastructure transparency and quality of the associated processes that improve participation and accountability among procuring entities at the national or sub-national level.
The survey also seeks to strengthen the operationalization of existing legislation such as Public Procurement Act, 2003( Act 663) as amended, Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) the right to information Act, 2019 (Act 989) as well as Local Government Act, 2016 (Act 963)
The Regional Procurement Manager, Mr. Winfred Frealar Kwamivi who represented the Ghana Water company during the research said the success chalked was largely due to the fact that government of Ghana and donor-funded projects were executed within stipulated principles.
“At Ghana water, our big projects are usually government-supported donor-funded and they are expecting you to account and engage at every level… you cannot afford to do otherwise”, he added.
The company is doing a lot to improve services to its numerous customers with the introductions of Electronic billing and payment.
The company, under special projects, was also producing bottled water: G-Water.
Mr. Kwamivi said to reduce cost in its value chain, the company was re-tooling it District offices and Stations across the country to improve water distribution and efficiency in customer service delivery.
“Our performance and recognition by CoST IT I will also go a long way to improve on quality and social accountability to the public”, he concluded.
Source: Daniel Kaku, Contributor