OUPPS (Open University People Profile System)

Biography

Professional biography

Dr Miriam Mbah-Amanze is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the Open University Law School. She joined the Law School in September 2020 from Bangor University, where she worked as a part-time Lecturer and gained her doctoral qualification in Public Procurement Law. In addition to this academic qualification, she completed the Legal Practice Course with BPP Manchester in 2018, attained her LLM in Public Procurement Law and Strategy in 2017 and an LLB Law with Criminology in 2015 at Bangor University. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2023) and completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education in 2019.

Research interests

Dr Mbah-Amanze’s research interest is in international and national Public Procurement Law, with a particular focus on sustainable procurement. Dr Mbah-Amanze welcomes PhD supervision in this field.

Publications

Amanze M and Eyo A, ‘Financing infrastructure procurement and workers' rights: the role of regional development banks’ in O Martin-Ortega and L Treviño Lozano (eds) Sustainable Public Procurement of Infrastructure and Human Rights: Beyond Building Green. Corporations, Globalisation and the Law (Edward Edgar, 2023), 85-109
Mbah M and Eyo A, 'Strengthening the Prohibition of Forced or Indentured Child Labor in Government Contracts: A Critical Analysis of FAR Subpart 22.15’ [2023] Public Contract Law Journal, 52(3) (pp. 343-368)
Amanze M, Cahill D and Evans C, ‘Tackling Human Trafficking in Governments Supply Chains: Legal Certainty & Effectiveness Issues Under the Australian Commonwealth Procurement Rules Model’ Federal Law Review [2022] 50 (4), 479 - 503
Mbah M, Addressing Human Trafficking Through Public Procurement: An Examination of US and Australian Federal Procurement Frameworks (PhD Thesis, 2020).
Mbah M, ‘Judicial interpretation of the notion of ‘grave professional misconduct’ in public procurement: Lessons for contracting authorities and suppliers’ (2017) European School of Law Journal, 1-15.
Mbah M, ‘When Two Becomes One’ (Procurement Week 2017, London, December 2016)

Teaching interests

Dr Mbah-Amanze is committed to delivering excellence in teaching and learning with passion and enthusiasm. At OU Law School, she is currently involved in the teaching of the following modules:

Undergraduate teaching

W101 Introduction to Law
W330 European Union Law
W240 Business and Employment Law
W323 Business law and dispute resolution (SQE)

Postgraduate teaching

W822 Business, human rights law and corporate social responsibility

PhD Supervision

Efficiency and Effectiveness in Emergency Procurement (projected completion - 2025)

Impact and engagement

Grants

Project title: Project HERizons: Career Pathways for Women Graduates in Kenya (HERizons) - PI
Project title: Gender responsive public procurement in Wales: A Scoping Research. PI
Project title: Black students’ perspectives on awarding gaps in the OU Law School: Causes and Remedies. PI

Administrative roles

Employability Lead 2021-2022

External engagement

Guest lecture at Riara University Law School, Kenya, November 2024
Guest lecture at Clifford University, Nigeria, June 2023

External collaborations

Dr Mbah-Amanze has collaborated with external colleagues in projects financed by the World Bank Group, Inter-America Development Bank and the European Union. Her consultancy experience expands to individual countries such as Nigeria, Bahamas, Barbados, Ghana, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. She regularly seeks donor consultancy opportunities and is working with a consultancy consortium led by HelpUsTrade Ltd in bidding for projects. Some of the recent projects Miriam has completed includes:

Affinity - Virtual Reality Hate Crime Training' Project, UK Police force, 2020: The delivery of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) training programme to radically transform the operational performance of over 2000 front-line police officers on a topic of national importance.
Institutional Development and Procurement Training, 2019 – 2020: As part of this project, Miriam developed a procurement competency framework which outlined competencies, performance and organisational drivers that would enhance the efficient and effective delivery of procurement by procurement professionals across the country. Furthermore, Miriam led various training of trainers sessions that would enable Afghanistan procurement trainers to improve and transform their delivery of training materials to procurement professionals in the country.
Curriculum and training materials development, 2018: The project centred on developing a national public procurement training capacity-building programme to train over 10,000 civil servants over a 5-year period.
Public Procurement Competency and Skills Framework 2020 - 2017. Working under the supervision of the lead consultant in various projects, Miriam has been responsible for developing the Procurement Competency and Skills Framework for three countries.

Projects

Project HERizons: Career pathways for women graduates in Kenya (HERizons)

Project HERizons seeks to address the enduring gender disparity in women's employment within the technology sector by reinforcing transitional pathways from education to the workforce. Anchored at the School of Computing Science at Riara University, Kenya, the project engaged forty female students through a multifaceted approach emphasising knowledge development, capacity building, and role modelling. One of the components of the project involved implementing a structured role-modelling framework. Students were guided to reflect on the career trajectories of established female professionals in the field. These experiences were documented as concise case studies, facilitating peer learning and fostering greater confidence in career planning and professional development. Additionally, the project enhanced the capacity of students through targeted training sessions designed to deepen the understanding of employment pathways and strengthen core employability skills. Project HERizons integrated its findings into university structures by cultivating a university-led ecosystem for public engagement. This initiative translates project insights into ongoing practices, extending the project’s influence beyond its initial cohort and contributing to systemic change in promoting gender equity in technology careers.