The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has cleared Paul Adom-Otchere, Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), of allegations of breaching procurement processes in the acquisition of Christmas decorations for the company in 2021.
Following a petition filed by Sacut Amenga-Etego, the Commission investigated Paul Adom-Otchere for breaches in Public Procurement Law and other rules during the procurement of the Christmas decorations.
It is recalled that GACL spent about $118,000 on the said Christmas trees and lighting. Mr. Amenga-Etego thus found it necessary to haul Paul Adom-Otchere, under whose supervision such expenditure was made as Board Chair of GACL, before CHRAJ.
Mr. Amenga-Etego was convinced that the Board Chair was in breach of the Public Procurement Law, the Public Financial Management Law, and the principles of corporate governance in the procurement of such decorations in December 2021.
He thus sought an order directing GACL to surcharge Mr. Adom-Otchere for the amount involved, as well as a request for CHRAJ to refer its investigations and recommendations for the prosecution of the respondent to the appropriate authorities.
However, CHRAJ in its report dated October 30, 2023, declared that Mr. Adom-Otchere had breached only a minor part of Act 663 as opposed to several portions. This was after the Commission admitted that Mr. Adom-Otchere had requested an invoice from one of the suppliers, Favors and Arts, in the joint names of himself and GACL.
“Our investigations did not reveal that the respondent breached several provisions of Act 663 as amended. The procurement of the Christmas inspirations was done by the management albeit with some active participation by the respondent in the sense that he requested an invoice from one of the suppliers, Favors and Arts.”
“This invoice was issued in the joint names of the respondent and the GACL. As the provisions of Act 663 do not require that invoices be submitted in the personal names of Board Chairmen of state-owned enterprises, we agree that was a breach of Act 663 albeit minor.”
The report signed by Commissioner Joseph Whittal added that “apart from this, we did not find that the respondent breached other provisions of Act 663 as amended. We also find that the respondent breached some but not several provisions of corporate governance in some roles that he played in the procurement of the inspirations and his appearance via media on media matters relating to the procurement.”
Though the Commission exonerated Paul Adom-Otchere, it declared that requesting for invoices and his appearances in the media in respect of matters involving the GACL of which he is the Board Chairman does not auger well for good corporate governance.
CHRAJ therefore, recommend that “the respondent should restrain himself from interfering in the work of management and restrict himself purely to his prescribed functions as Board Chairman.”