President Akufo-Addo has terminated the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of Public Procurement Authority, Adjenim Boateng Adjei after a report by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) submitted a report indicating the suspended CEO of conflict of interest in the award of contracts to his co-owned company.
President Akufo-Addo described the report by CHRAJ as properly motivated and well-founded hence satisfied by the evidence adduced against the CEO in the report.
President Nana Akufo-Addo on August 22, 2019, directed CHRAJ and the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate his appointee of conflict of interest and corruption after an investigative documentary titled “contract for sale” by investigative Journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni. After almost, a year of investigation CHRAJ on Friday, October 30, 2020, released the report
CHRAJ recommends sacking of suspended PPA boss, banned from holding public office for 5 years.
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) recommended to President Akufo-Addo to dismiss the suspended CEO of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Adjenim Boateng Adjei after establishing evidence of wrongdoing in the contract for sale investigative piece by Manasseh Azure Awuni.
The Commission has also recommended that the CEO be disqualified from holding public office for the next five years.
Mr. Adjenim Boateng was suspended from office by President Akufo-Addo following an investigative documentary by Manasseh Azure Awuni, which revealed a company he co-owned, has been selling government contracts it won through single-source and restrictive tendering, to the highest bidder.
Below is a summary of key findings of CHRAJ investigations:
“The following constitute the key findings of the investigation: Talent Discovery Limited (TDL) was incorporated on 19 June 2017, three months after the Respondent was appointed CEO of PPA in March 2017, by the Respondent and his brother-in-law Francis Kwaku Arhin, the Respondent being the majority shareholder.
The Respondent is both a director and shareholder of TDL and Francis Arhin, Respondent’s brother-in-law, is a director, shareholder, and CEO of TDL. In effect, the Respondent has a personal interest in TDL (financial and relational).
Although the Respondent claimed that he had resigned as director of TDL because of a letter dated 5th September 2017 addressed to the CEO and Company Secretary of TDL, all the relevant official records of the company showed that he remained a director of TDL at all material times and that his purported resignation letter had no probative value whatsoever.
The evidence supports the allegation that TDL participated in several restricted tenders, which applications came before the Respondent in his capacity as CEO of PPA and member of the Board of PPA for approval.
TDL was awarded 10 contracts through restricted tender between June 2017 and 22 August 2019. However, the evidence did not support the allegation of award of contracts through sole sourcing.
The Respondent participated in the decision-making process on restricted tender applications that had TDL shortlisted without disclosing his private capacity (financial and relational) interest in the company or recusing himself, except on one occasion, in violation of the Board’s resolution on the matter and Article 284 of the Constitution.
The evidence further showed that the Respondent, on at least two occasions, used his office as CEO of PPA improperly by altering the decision of the Board to the benefit of TDL, a company in which he has a personal (financial and relational) interest.
Officials of TDL (Thomas Amoah, Administrative Manager, who is also sometimes described as General Manager, Project Manager or Group Manager, and Abigail, the Office Secretary), the company in which the Respondent is majority shareholder and director, were seen and heard in the documentary offering to sell contracts awarded to TDL by public procurement entities through restricted tender.
The evidence also established a pattern of movement of large volumes of cash through the Respondent’s Bank Accounts between March 2017 and August 2019, far over his known income (Stanbic Bank: USD Account – $516,225.00; Cedi Account – ¢3.83 million; Euro Account – EU54,500; UMB Bank: $110,000). The Respondent could not offer a satisfactory explanation to the source of that huge volume of cash that passed through his bank account between March 2017 and August 2019 (unexplained wealth).
“The totality of the evidence showed that the Respondent had put himself in a position where his interest (financial and relational) conflicted with the performance of the functions of his office as CEO and Board Member of PPA.”
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
