PPA Board will cooperate with CHRAJ, Special Prosecutor’s investigations

The Board of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has welcomed the President’s directive to conduct investigations into a documentary by Manasseh Awuni Azure, titled: “Selling of Government Contracts,” which sought to implicate A.B Adjei, former CEO of the PPA in procurement deals.

A statement issued and signed by Professor Douglas Boateng, Chairman of the Board and Mrs Lesley Dodoo, Board Secretary of the PPA, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Friday, expressed the Board’s preparedness to co-operate with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Special Prosecutor’s investigations into the matter.

“PPA hereby assures the public that upon the conclusion of the said investigations, the role of the Board of the PPA in the grant of approvals for the procedure to be adopted by procurement entities for Single Source and Restricted Tendering in accordance with section 38,39, 40 and 41 respectively of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended, and not the conduct of the tender or selection of successful tenderers, will be clarified and better understood.

“The Board further assures the public that the investigations ordered by the President will disclose that the Board of the PPA does not influence subsequent tender processes, (which is competitive) conducted in accordance with Part 5 of Act 663, after an approval of the procedure for restricted tendering has been granted by the PPA, neither does the Board have control over the selection of contractors and suppliers for goods, works and services presented by procurement entities in applications for approval for a method of Single Source and Restricted Tendering, nor does it award contracts,” it said.

It assured the public that the investigation into the matter has not disrupted the operations of the Authority.

On Wednesday, August 21, a member of the Multimedia Group, Joy TV showed a documentary by Manasseh Awuni Azure, a freelance journalist, titled: “Selling of Government Contracts”, which sought to impugn that the PPA Boss, Mr AB Adjei has established his own company called Talent Discovery Limited that won many government contracts through restricted tendering.

After the broadcast of the documentary, President Akufo-Addo directed CHRAJ and Office of the Special Prosecutor to institute full-scale investigations into the matter to ascertain the truth and ensure sanity in the public procurement processes.