President John Dramani Mahama has signed the Value for Money Office Bill into law, in a move aimed at tackling inflated public sector contracts and strengthening accountability in government spending.
Announcing the development on Monday, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson described the signing of the bill as a major milestone in the government’s efforts to control rising public expenditure linked to overpriced contracts.
“Today is a good day. His Excellency, the President, this morning signed into law the Value for Money Office Bill,” Dr Forson said.
He explained that under the new law, all single-source procurement contracts will be subjected to review by the soon-to-be-established Value for Money Office to ensure the state receives value for every public cedi spent.
According to the Finance Minister, the responsibility for conducting value-for-money assessments previously rested with the Legal Division of the Ministry of Finance, which lacked the specialised expertise needed for such evaluations.
Dr Forson noted that the new legislation seeks to institutionalise the process through a dedicated office with the technical capacity to independently assess government contracts before approval.
The establishment of the office fulfils one of President Mahama’s campaign promises focused on improving transparency, efficiency and accountability in public financial management.
He further disclosed that government is already making arrangements to provide the resources needed to operationalise the office, appoint its leadership and put together a technical team to oversee the implementation of the law.
Dr Forson said the government expects the Value for Money Office to become fully operational by January 2027.
“I want to use this opportunity to assure the people of Ghana that the manner of public sector contracting and overinflation of contracts will be curtailed by this signature,” he stated.