Graphic Entity Tender Committee inaugurated

The Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) has inaugurated a 10-member Entity Tender Committee to ensure procurement activities in the company follow due regulations.

The committee is made up of three external representatives and seven other members drawn from the company’s internal units heads.

This is in fulfilment of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as Amended by, 2016 (ACT 914), which mandates the company to constitute an Entity Tender Committee with external representation.

The external members are representative from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, UK, Freda Maame Bartels Mensah; representative from the Ghana Institute of Engineers, Samuel Asare; and Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Manager of the Ministry of Information, Alice Zu.

Chaired by the Managing Director of the GCGL, Ato Afful, the other members are the Head of Finance and Administration, Samuel Essel; Director Sales and Marketing, Franklin Sowa; Director of Technical Services, Charles Amoako; Editor, Graphic, Theophilus Yartey; Head of Legal, Stephen Sah and General Services and Procurement Manager, David Ayisala.

Swearing-in

The Board Chair of the GCGL, Professor Olivia Frimpong Kwapong, who administered the oaths at the GCGL’s headoffice in Accra yesterday, charged the committee members to work collaboratively.

She urged the members to ensure speed and timeliness in their procurement dealings as majority of the goods needed for production were imported.  

“Timely delivery of relevant and compelling news, newspapers, e-papers, and digital is paramount to the survival and sustainability of the company,” she said.

She said the rate of depreciation of the local currency against foreign currencies also affected the importation of the production inputs.

She entreated the committee to consider such challenges when handling procurement issues.

“The digital and social media landscape has democratised the news publishing business, therefore, the reading public of print media is in fierce competition, a situation that affects our margins and operations, therefore, competitive sourcing of products at fair prices is imperative to our continued growth,” she said.

She urged them to inject fairness, accountability, and transparency into the procurement processes of the company while protecting the public purse and improving the productivity and profitability of Graphic.

Professor Kwapong further urged the management of the company to be prepared for change in their work processes.

“Your work culture is going to change and I urge you to prepare yourselves towards that change.

Be ready for it and work to have value for money,” she said.

She suggested that staff in the administration and finance departments be equipped to support the workload on the procurement team.

She also recommended that the company should digitise its documentation to reduce the paper work at the basic levels of the procurement work.
 

Commitment

Speaking on behalf of the members, Mr Afful expressed the commitment of the committee to abide by the regulations it was enjoined to do, bearing in mind the need for speed and value for money.

He promised that members would work to deliver on their mandate to avoid being cited for any infractions.

“We will be guided and open to learn and also listen to good counsel from our external members to make procurement process better,” he said.

Mrs Mensah and Ms Zu called on the committee to ensure that planning was prioritised during procurement process, since that was one of the surest ways to ensure timely delivery and value for money.

They also expressed their willingness to work together and open to discuss the challenges associated with procurement dealings.

They promised to bring their expertise on board, to ensure procurement processes at Graphic were enhanced.

“To prevent procurement delays, we must work with timelines and not work outside the plan to avoid infractions,” Ms Zu noted.