The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has referred three Senior High Schools and their officials to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution over procurement violations cited in the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report.
The affected schools are Breman Essikuma Technical Institute, Eguafo Senior High School and Efutu Senior High School, all located in the Central Region.
The schools were cited for breaching established procurement procedures.
Speaking to Citi News on Tuesday, May 5, the Ranking Member of the Committee, Samuel Atta Mills, said the referrals followed findings of widespread irregularities uncovered during the Committee’s ongoing sittings in Takoradi in the Western Region.
He singled out Eguafo Senior High School for procuring goods worth GH¢122,192 from 19 vendors without adhering to any competitive procurement process.
“There are so many issues with procurement and I have referred three institutions. What you are supposed to do is that before you get into any kind of procurement, you are supposed to get three bids, and then you pick the best, but most of them just pick one,” he explained.
Mr Atta Mills further revealed that in some cases, suppliers were approached only to provide invoices to create the impression of competitive bidding, despite the schools taking decisions already on preferred vendors.
“In fact, in one of the schools, when they went to a purveyor to get an invoice, the purveyor didn’t want to give it to them because he already knew they were going to pick somebody else.
“They only wanted his receipts just to put them out there for the auditors. So if you are working on procurements you need to follow the rules,” he added.
The Committee emphasised the need for strict adherence to procurement laws, warning that breaches undermine transparency, accountability and value for money in public spending.
