The Campaigner for Tax Justice Network, Vitus Azeem, says the Chairman for Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Paul Adom-Otchere, was wrong in purchasing Christmas trees for the company.
Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Monday, Mr. Azeem stated that the involvement of Mr Adom-Otchere in procuring the Christmas trees for the GACL raises eyebrow.
According to him, it is worrying for a Board Chair to have office in institutions adding that the board is a policy-making body who should visit once in three months or comes in when there are urgent issues to attend to.
“Why should the board chair involve and defending it, that is wrong. We need to know the actual amount involved or whatever. Whether it’s from a sponsorship or not. It’s the cost reasonable, is that the market price for it and did it go through the normal procurement procedure,” he asked.
He continued “From my experience the Board has nothing to do with the day-to-day running of an institution. The board chair has nothing to do with procurement. Once the board chair approves that there is the need to buy something that is where his role ends. It is left with the institution and its tendering committee to look at the procurement side.”
He described as a mark of irresponsibility “if you are a board chair and your staff are spending Christmas without salary not to talk of their bonus but just their salary and you can go out and buy Christmas trees.
“That is a bit worrying. Definitely somebody probably stood benefit in purchasing this for Christmas and needed the money upfront. That interest was put above the staff and that is the worrying issue.”
He, however, said with the amount involved it would be a waste of time for the Office of the Special Prosecutor to take it up for investigation.
“The amount involved I am thinking if it’s worth the time for the Office of the Special Prosecutor or CHRAJ to go into it considering serious matters in terms of cost. There are other serious matters that are before these two institutions and they have not been able to investigative as fast, to the satisfaction of Ghanaians,” he added.
