A High Court in Accra, has granted a former Public Procurement Authority boss, Adjenim Boateng Adjei, bail in the sum of GHc4 million with two sureties to be justified with landed property. This follows fresh corruption charges levelled against Mr. Boateng Adjei by the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Mr. Boateng Adjei, was also ordered to produce every passport he has to the registrar of the court.
The former PPA Chief Executive, has been charged with four counts of using public office for profit, contrary to section 179C(a) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and four counts of indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain unfair advantage in the award of procurement contract to his privately owned company, Talent Discovery Limited, contrary to section 92(2) of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
Other bail conditions set for the release of Adjenim Boateng Adjei, are that the registrar of the Court confirms with the relevant authorities the authenticity of the documents of the sureties, while the sureties are also to produce copies of their Ghana Card to the Court’s registry. The Court further directed the registrar, to confirm the relevant passport and the existence of any other passport in the name of Mr. Boateng Adjei. A copy of the bail bond is to be given to the prosecution for easy access.
The facts of the fresh case are that, the Office of the Special Prosecutor, received a letter signed by his Secretary, to the President, referring allegations of corruption against the former CEO of the Public Procurement Authority, Adjenim Boateng Adjei. The facts state that the referral was on the back of, and based on an audio-visual documentary titled Contracts for Sale – an investigative journalistic piece conducted by Manasseh Azure Awuni and aired by the Multimedia Group.
According to the facts, evidence established that Adjenim Boateng Adjei was at all material times the Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority, a member of the Governing Board of the Public Procurement Authority; and a member of the Due Diligence Unit of the Public Procurement Authority. He and another person, allegedly, incorporated Talent Discovery Limited in Ghana as a company limited by shares on 19th June 2017, three months after the accused was appointed as Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority. Per the facts, at all material times, the accused was the majority shareholder and a director of Talent Discovery Limited.
It is alleged that during his tenure as the Chief Executive, a member of the Governing Board; and a member of the Due Diligence Unit of the Public Procurement Authority, he participated in several restricted tenders in respect of public works contracts awarded by the Ministry of Works and Housing, Ministry of Education, and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.
The accused, in his capacity as the Chief Executive, and holding other positions at PPA, allegedly conducted the procurement processes in respect of tenders in which his company, Talent Discovery Limited was shortlsted, and he actively participated in the due diligence and decision-making processes leading to the selection of the company as the contractor in respect of the tenders, without disclosing his personal interest as the majority shareholder and a director of the company.
The accused also used his positions in respect of two Ministry of Education contracts in favour of Talent Discovery Limited leading to the improper award of the contracts to Talent Discovery Limited. The facts indicate that, Mr. Boateng Adjei, benefited personally and pecuniarily through the use of public office for profit and influencing the public procurement process to obtain unfair advantage. The Court, presided over by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, has directed Prosecution to file all disclosures and served on the accused person. The case has been adjourned to May 14 at 8 o’clock in the forenoon.
