The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has asked the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to terminate the current contract awarded to Ribade Company Limited for the construction of the National Cathedral over breaches of the Procurement Act.
In a 169-page report released by the commission following a petition brought before it by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the constitutional body noted that the Board of Trustees did not “strictly comply with the rules of public procurement” when it awarded the contract to Ribade.
The commission said the processes that were breached in the lead up to the awarding of the contract valued at about $312million fed into suspicions that corruption related offences had occurred.
“The National Cathedral of Ghana did not strictly comply with the rules of public procurement provided for under Act 663 as ammended by Act 914 when it purported to select and award the contract for the construction of the National Cathedral to Ribade Limited,” part of the report read.
CHRAJ declared the contract “illegal and void” and called on the Auditor-General to conduct a forensic audit on the construction project to determine whether the public funds were “properly utilized”.
In his petition to the constitutional body, Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa among other reliefs had asked it to “investigate the appointment of contractors for the National Cathedral Project” believing that the process did not comply with procurement procedures and laws in that regard.
Reacting to the findings, Mr. Ablakwa said the commission’s report was “intriguing” as it exposed a scheme to “create loot and share”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Mitchell Asare Amoamah
