Office of Special Prosecutor to act on former PPA boss, Adjenim Boateng Adjei and two others
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has announced that in the coming weeks, it will announce its conclusions and further action in three cases, including that of the former CEO of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), LaBianca Company Limited and Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka.
It indicated that it will announce conclusions and further action in the case of Adjenim Boateng Adjei in respect of alleged corruption and corruption related offences in the context of public procurement and abuse of office involving a former Chief Executive of the Public Procurement Authority.
The LaBianca Company Limited in respect of alleged corruption and corruption related offences in the context of evasion and valuation of duties on frozen and processed food products imported into Ghana between 2017-2021 involving LaBianca Company Limited and some high-ranking officials of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka in respect of corruption and corruption related offences in the context of a public election, particularly corruption and intimidation in respect of a public election regarding the confirmation or otherwise of the nominee for the office of Chief Executive of the Juaben Municipal Assembly of the Ashanti Region.
It added that it is currently investigating forty-five cases of corruption and corruption related offences.
Mr Adjei who was sacked by the President for conflict of interest, is not new to procurement related breaches (while heading procurement at the Ghana Water Company in the 2000s, he bought stationery to last 100 years) but he couldn’t explain to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) how his personal bank account opened in 2017 was receiving monies on behalf of a company he registered in 2019.
Adjei told the CHRAJ that he registered and ran a company, Frosty Ice Natural Water Ltd, with his wife in 2019 and because the company had no bank account, payments to Frosty Ice were made into his personal account.
According to the CHRAJ report, the records from the Registrar-General show that Frosty Ice Natural Mineral Water Ltd was incorporated on January 29, 2019, and so it asked, “how could a company established in 2019 accumulate so much revenue in 2017 and 2018, before its establishment?”
“Even though, the Respondent is a director of over 19 companies, he himself claims that he did not receive director’s fee from any of those companies except Beachfront Stevedoring Company Limited. We find that the Respondent’s explanation completely unsatisfactory, and that he could not explain the source of the large volumes of excess wealth that passed through his bank accounts between March 2017 and August 2019 (unexplained wealth),” it said.
An investigative report that exposed Adjei alleged that he has been taking advantage of his office to improperly enrich himself, to which he strenuously denied through his solicitors.
Alex Sarfo Kantanka, the Municipal Chief Executive nominee for the Juaben in the Ashanti Region, was arrested following a viral video of him demanding a refund of the alleged bribe he paid to assembly members for his confirmation.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi