Former PPA Boss Discharged, Awaiting New Trial

A High Court in Accra has discharged a former Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei who is accused of using public office for profit.

His brother-in-law, Francis Kweku Arhin who was also facing one count of misusing public office for personal profit has also been discharged by the court.

This followed the withdrawal of the charge sheet by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, replacing it with a new one which has been assigned to a new Judge.

The new charge sheet filed before the registry of the High Court in Accra and assigned to Criminal Court ‘2’, significantly reduced the charges from 17 to eight (8) against him and also notably excluded Mr. Adjei’s brother-in-law Francis Kweku Arhin.

Adelaide Obiri Wood, a Principal Prosecutor at the Office of the Special Prosecutor had told the court that “as a result of further investigation, prosecution does not intend to proceed with the case against the second accused – Francis Kwaku Arhin.

“We have since filed a fresh charge sheet with only A1 – Adjenim Adjei as the accused, a copy of which we brought to the attention of the court at the last sitting,” she added.

Justice Mary Yanzuh, the presiding Judge subsequently struck out the case as withdrawn and discharged the two accused persons.

Kwame Acheampong Boateng, counsel for Mr. Adjei expressed disappointment at the turn of events, given the fact that the case had travelled for almost two years.

He said the defense was expecting that the matter would be tried in an extremely expeditious manner.

The new trial is set to commence sometime later today.

The former PPA boss is now facing four counts of using public office for profit contrary to Seciton 179C(a) of the Criminal and other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and four counts of indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract.

He was initially charged alongside his brother-in-law, Francis Kwaku Arhin, who was the CEO of Talent Discovery Limited, on 25 May 2022.

It is not clear why the OSP dropped the charge against Kwaku Arhin and whether who would ever be charged again.

The accusations against Mr. Adjei revolve around the exploitation of Talent Discovery Limited as a front to secure public contracts which was captured in a documentary by Manasseh Azure in his ‘Contract For Sale’ expose.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, on October 30, 2020, sacked Mr. Adjei over allegations of conflict of interest in the ‘Contract for Sale’ scandal. He had been suspended the previous year following the release of the investigative piece.

The President after suspending him then reported the former PPA boss to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate the conflict of interest allegation and followed it up with a complaint to the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the aspects of the scandal bordering on criminality.