The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Samuel Atta Mills, has directed three Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Central Region to the Attorney General’s Office for possible prosecution over procurement breaches identified in the Auditor General’s Report.

The schools concerned are Bremang Essikadu Technical Institute, Eguafo Senior High School, and Efutu Senior High Technical School.

This directive was issued during the ongoing PAC sittings in Takoradi, where the committee is scrutinising financial and procurement irregularities across public institutions.

Persistent Violations Highlighted

Addressing school authorities at the hearing, Hon. Atta Mills voiced serious concerns about repeated breaches of the Public Procurement Act.

He particularly criticised the failure of some schools to secure competitive quotations prior to awarding contracts or making purchases.

He accused certain institutions of manipulating procurement processes by obtaining invoices from suppliers solely to meet audit requirements, after having already predetermined the successful bidder.

Stern Warning on Consequences

Mr. Atta Mills emphasised that procurement offences constitute criminal acts, punishable by fines, imprisonment, or both.

"There are so many issues in Procurement, and I have ... three are institutions. What you're supposed to do, is before you get into any kind of procurement and you're supposed to get best and then you pick the best.

"But most of them they just pick one ... and work with it. so when you are working with procurement you need to make sure you follow the rules.

"It includes fines, imprisonment or both, make sure you understand the job, read about the job, make sure you're doing it well and is not like you are doing ... fast," he said.