Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has said the investigations that his outfit was conducting against the dismissed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei, delayed because some of his staff were compromised in the matter.
His comment comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo sacked Mr Adjenim Boateng Adjei for alleged corruption based on a Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Portions of the CHRAJ report said: “The respondent (Mr Adjei) opened a USD Account at the Stanbic Bank on 03 April 2017 after his appointment as CEO of PPA. As of August 2-019, a total of USD516225 has been credited to the account and his debits stood at USD504607.87
“When confronted with the evidence of the sheer volume of cash that passed through his accounts the Respondent indicated that Frosty Ice Mineral Water Ltd does not have a bank account and that proceeds from the sales of the water is lodged in his account. Frosty Ice Mineral water Ltd is the company the Respondent owns with his wife, Mercy Adjei. He also claimed that he received money from other family businesses but could not name the family businesses.”
A release issued by Eugene Arhin, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, on Friday, October 30 annnounced: “Having satisfied himself of the fact that the recommendation made by CHRAJ is properly motivated and well-founded, the President has expressed his appreciation and gratitude to Mr Joseph Whittal and CHRAJ for the thorough and methodical manner in which the matter has been addressed.”
Aspects of the investigative work relating to potential acts of corruption were referred to the Office of Special Prosecutor for action. The Prosecutor is yet to come out with his report.
In a statement reacting to this development, the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, said: “CHRAJ ought to be commended for its work and report. The only problem with the CHRAJ report is that for some reason it understates the amounts disclosed by the bank statements from the three banks accounts of Mr Adjei exhaustively reviewed by the Auditor General for this Office.
“The resolution of the Adjenim Boateng Adjei case was taking too long to investigate because my seconded staff investigators appeared compromised. I, therefore, asked for an interim report to be submitted to the President on the referral on the Adjenim Boateng Adjei case.
“When the first draft report was submitted to me, I felt scandalised. I called a management meeting on August 10, 2020, with the investigators’ and pointed out how the incriminating evidence in their possession were inconsistent with their interim report.
“I suspended all on-going investigations in all cases except those affecting pending cases in Court. I tasked the investigators to tabulate within one week the total deposits Mr Adjei had made into his bank accounts. This is still outstanding to date.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana