An anti-graft group calling itself Crusaders Against Corruption has said rather than “persecuting” the now-embattled and suspended CEO of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Mr. A.B. Adjei over an alleged conflict of interest exposé by investigative journalists Manasseh Azure Awuni.
According to the group, Mr A.B. Adjei must be “awarded” and “celebrated” for saving Ghana some GHC2.75 billion, which would have otherwise gone into the individual pockets of certain powerful public officials who inflated 513 procurement contracts, some of them sole-sourced, by as much as $73 million in just one instant.
Following the Manasseh exposé, which accused Mr. Adjei of selling government contracts to his own company, TDL, and, in turn, selling the same contracts to third parties for personal gain, President Nana Akufo-Addo directed that he be suspended pending investigations into the matter.
The President referred the case to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor for a probe.
At a press conference on Wednesday, 2 October 2019, however, Crusaders Against Corruption, led by its Chief Convener Mr Emmanuel Wilson, said some unhappy heavyweights within certain government agencies whose inflated procurement contracts were detected and cut down by Mr Adjei’s efforts through a Due Diligence Unit he set up at the PPA, are those who “ganged” up against him using the conflict of interest allegation, with the aim of forcing the President’s hand against the embattled CEO so they could have a field day with their inflation of sole-sourced contracts.
“Further investigations conducted by Crusaders has revealed that Mr. A.B. Adjei, CEO of PPA, who is currently on suspension, was rather aggressively pursuing the President’s agenda in the actualization of the promise to protect the public purse. He approached his job with vigilance and without fear or favor, and directed state institutions, ministries, departments and agencies whose contract estimates were considered unreasonable through the scrutiny of the Due Diligence Unit to reduce their contract sums, to achieve significant cost savings, thereby freeing monies for other equally important national projects” Mr. Wilson told the media.
The group listed some of the allegedly inflated contracts, which it claims Mr. Adjei scrutinized and cut down significantly, for which reason he became the enemy of some powerful people in government, as follows:
In a sole-source contract by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for the Bui and Pwalugu Irrigation Project, Mr. A.B. Adjei saved the Ghanaian purse, the gargantuan sum of $49,856,061.00.
In a sole-source contract by the Ministry of Health, dated 1 June 2018, Mr. A.B. Adjei beat down the price by the considerable sum of $11,922,954.00.
In a different contract by the Ministry of Health for the development of electronic medical records and bio-surveillance system, the nation was saved the whopping sum of $12,000,000.00.
In a sole-source contract for the clearing of tree stumps on the Volta lake –Yeji-Awujakope Ferry Crossing presented by Ghana Maritime Authority, Mr. A.B. Adjei cut down the contract sum by GH¢1,276,034.10. In other words, Mr. A.B. Adjei saved the public purse by GH¢1,276,034.10 million Ghana cedis in this single contract.
In a sole-source contract for the procurement of vehicles for the ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. A.B. Adjei slashed the contract sum by GH¢1,425,000.00. Fellow-citizens, this is another savings made for the nation on just a single contract by Mr. A.B. Adjei.
In a sole-source contract for the supply of core literature books to Public SHS by the Ministry of Education, Mr. A.B. Adjei through value for money audit was able to slash down the contract sum by GH¢3,156,410.40.
In a sole-source contract for the rehabilitation and upgrading of some selected roads by the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Mr. A.B. Adjei again succeeded in cutting down this contract amount by GH¢12,523,476.00. In other words, GH¢12,523,476.00, was saved for Ghana by Mr. A.B. Adjei on this single contract.
In a sole-source contract by the Ministry of Special Development Initiative, Mr. A.B. Adjei had the contract amount cut down by GH¢32,475,000.
In a sole-sourced contract dated 17 April 2018 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. A.B. Adjei, in the pursuit of value-for-money and protection of the public purse, slashed the contract sum down by a gigantic sum of €4,000,000.00.
In a sole-source contract for the feasibility study of the development of the Accra-Kumasi expressway project, Mr. A.B. Adjei succeeded in cutting down the contract sum by a colossal sum of $6,644,744.07.
According to the group, “The total sum saved on these contracts and the remaining of the 513 individual contracts amounts to GHS2.75 billion. What baffles our minds as Crusaders, however, is that, couldn’t Mr. A.B. Adjei, whose vigilance and professionalism cut down a whopping $73,000,000.00 on just one out of 513 contracts, have gone into a deal to make even 10% on this single contract?”
“He could have walked away with a cool $7 million by allowing this one deal to go through. Would that amount alone not have been more than the entire sum of the contracts that TDL has won?
“From our investigation, it is becoming evidently clear that the reason Mr. Adjei is suspended now, is because, through his vigilance, he might have gotten himself several enemies who may not be happy with his penchant for cost reductions, which may have led to a gang of dissatisfied individuals seeking to bring him to public ridicule.
“It is the strong position of Crusaders against Corruption that people like Mr. Adjei who have obviously been fighting corruption on the quiet and on a daily basis should rather be awarded and celebrated, not persecuted”, the group said.
“We are demanding so to serve as a strong signal to all those who are fighting corruption in the various public offices and in their small ways that Crusaders against Corruption shall support such individuals when, as a result of their good work, the system decides to fight them.
“We want to respectfully tell His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that if, indeed, you are committed to the fight against corruption, then we are asking you to reinstate Crusader A.B. Adjei. He is, indeed, what you and Ghana need to ensure that we are able to fight this corruption menace successfully”, Mr Wilson added.
According to the group, Mr A.B. Adjei must be “awarded” and “celebrated” for saving Ghana some GHC2.75 billion, which would have otherwise gone into the individual pockets of certain powerful public officials who inflated 513 procurement contracts, some of them sole-sourced, by as much as $73 million in just one instant.
Following the Manasseh exposé, which accused Mr. Adjei of selling government contracts to his own company, TDL, and, in turn, selling the same contracts to third parties for personal gain, President Nana Akufo-Addo directed that he be suspended pending investigations into the matter.
The President referred the case to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor for a probe.
At a press conference on Wednesday, 2 October 2019, however, Crusaders Against Corruption, led by its Chief Convener Mr Emmanuel Wilson, said some unhappy heavyweights within certain government agencies whose inflated procurement contracts were detected and cut down by Mr Adjei’s efforts through a Due Diligence Unit he set up at the PPA, are those who “ganged” up against him using the conflict of interest allegation, with the aim of forcing the President’s hand against the embattled CEO so they could have a field day with their inflation of sole-sourced contracts.
“Further investigations conducted by Crusaders has revealed that Mr. A.B. Adjei, CEO of PPA, who is currently on suspension, was rather aggressively pursuing the President’s agenda in the actualization of the promise to protect the public purse. He approached his job with vigilance and without fear or favor, and directed state institutions, ministries, departments and agencies whose contract estimates were considered unreasonable through the scrutiny of the Due Diligence Unit to reduce their contract sums, to achieve significant cost savings, thereby freeing monies for other equally important national projects” Mr. Wilson told the media.
The group listed some of the allegedly inflated contracts, which it claims Mr. Adjei scrutinized and cut down significantly, for which reason he became the enemy of some powerful people in government, as follows:
In a sole-source contract by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for the Bui and Pwalugu Irrigation Project, Mr. A.B. Adjei saved the Ghanaian purse, the gargantuan sum of $49,856,061.00.
In a sole-source contract by the Ministry of Health, dated 1 June 2018, Mr. A.B. Adjei beat down the price by the considerable sum of $11,922,954.00.
In a different contract by the Ministry of Health for the development of electronic medical records and bio-surveillance system, the nation was saved the whopping sum of $12,000,000.00.
In a sole-source contract for the clearing of tree stumps on the Volta lake –Yeji-Awujakope Ferry Crossing presented by Ghana Maritime Authority, Mr. A.B. Adjei cut down the contract sum by GH¢1,276,034.10. In other words, Mr. A.B. Adjei saved the public purse by GH¢1,276,034.10 million Ghana cedis in this single contract.
In a sole-source contract for the procurement of vehicles for the ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. A.B. Adjei slashed the contract sum by GH¢1,425,000.00. Fellow-citizens, this is another savings made for the nation on just a single contract by Mr. A.B. Adjei.
In a sole-source contract for the supply of core literature books to Public SHS by the Ministry of Education, Mr. A.B. Adjei through value for money audit was able to slash down the contract sum by GH¢3,156,410.40.
In a sole-source contract for the rehabilitation and upgrading of some selected roads by the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Mr. A.B. Adjei again succeeded in cutting down this contract amount by GH¢12,523,476.00. In other words, GH¢12,523,476.00, was saved for Ghana by Mr. A.B. Adjei on this single contract.
In a sole-source contract by the Ministry of Special Development Initiative, Mr. A.B. Adjei had the contract amount cut down by GH¢32,475,000.
In a sole-sourced contract dated 17 April 2018 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. A.B. Adjei, in the pursuit of value-for-money and protection of the public purse, slashed the contract sum down by a gigantic sum of €4,000,000.00.
In a sole-source contract for the feasibility study of the development of the Accra-Kumasi expressway project, Mr. A.B. Adjei succeeded in cutting down the contract sum by a colossal sum of $6,644,744.07.
According to the group, “The total sum saved on these contracts and the remaining of the 513 individual contracts amounts to GHS2.75 billion. What baffles our minds as Crusaders, however, is that, couldn’t Mr. A.B. Adjei, whose vigilance and professionalism cut down a whopping $73,000,000.00 on just one out of 513 contracts, have gone into a deal to make even 10% on this single contract?”
“He could have walked away with a cool $7 million by allowing this one deal to go through. Would that amount alone not have been more than the entire sum of the contracts that TDL has won?
“From our investigation, it is becoming evidently clear that the reason Mr. Adjei is suspended now, is because, through his vigilance, he might have gotten himself several enemies who may not be happy with his penchant for cost reductions, which may have led to a gang of dissatisfied individuals seeking to bring him to public ridicule.
“It is the strong position of Crusaders against Corruption that people like Mr. Adjei who have obviously been fighting corruption on the quiet and on a daily basis should rather be awarded and celebrated, not persecuted”, the group said.
The group is, therefore, demanding “the immediate reinstatement of Mr. A.B. Adjei to continue the good work he is doing for Ghana and particularly the ordinary citizens”.
“We are demanding so to serve as a strong signal to all those who are fighting corruption in the various public offices and in their small ways that Crusaders against Corruption shall support such individuals when, as a result of their good work, the system decides to fight them.
“We want to respectfully tell His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that if, indeed, you are committed to the fight against corruption, then we are asking you to reinstate Crusader A.B. Adjei. He is, indeed, what you and Ghana need to ensure that we are able to fight this corruption menace successfully”, Mr Wilson added.