More ‘dirt’ to be uncovered in PPA Boss’ case, step up – Manasseh challenges EOCO, Martin Amidu

Investigative Journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni has challenged Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, and the Economic and Organised Crime (EOCO) to take up the case involving the sacked Public Procurement Agency Boss, Adjenim Boateng Adjei.

Mr. Adjei was discovered using his position to award contracts for his personal gain. He was subsequently suspended pending investigations into the matter by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and was, as of Friday, October 30, 2020, fired from post as CEO and his appointment terminated by the President.

Manasseh whose expose; “Contracts for Sale”, brought to bare the subject of conflict of interest on the part of the PPA Boss, has since expressed satisfaction about the involvement of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the investigation process.

He believes Mr. Akufo-Addo has done exceptionally well by spearheading fruitful investigations but believes there’s more yet to be done. This time, he believes EOCO and the Special Prosecutor’s office need to work together to uncover more ‘dirt’ in this case.

“I have read suggestions from social media that the President may have not done his work thoroughly by not making reference to the criminal aspect but I disagree with them, as far as I am concerned, the President has done his work and done it very well.

“We should begin to put pressure on the other state institutions such as EOCO and the office of the Special Prosecutor led by my good friend Martin Amidu because they have a role to play. My expectations would be that EOCO and the office of the Special Prosecutor perhaps would have to meet urgently before they proceed so that they don’t end up overlapping with their roles.

“It is all towards the same goals and the office of the Special Prosecutor has been on this since August 2019 when this came up. I would expect that they have some information. Sources within tell me that they have uncovered even more money than what CHRAJ has. So if that is true, I would expect the two bodies to work together,” he stated during Joynews’ Newsfile programme.

Manasseh also advocated for the investigation of banks and other financial institutions cited in the case and the exposure of their roles in the matter.

This he says, will serve as a deterrent to others going forward.

“We should begin to put pressure on the other state institutions such as EOCO and the office of the Special Prosecutor led by my good friend Martin Amidu because they have a role to play. Going forward, I will even want the accountability to go beyond the former CEO of the PPA and even the banks should be questioned, if such huge volumes of cash should be going into someone’s account and if you enter every bank in Ghana, you will see notices of anti-money laundering and measures they are taking, warning customers. So what did they do about it? Did they alert the financial intelligence centre when these monies began to get into this man’s account and if they did, what was the response they got?

“If stolen wealth is difficult to hide, it will be one of the deterrent measures for people who want to engage in such transactions,” he added.