Former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Paul Adom-Otchere, has said that the Christmas tree saga, which rocked his tenure was ‘political and much ado about nothing.’

According to him, when the matter went to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) after a petition was filed, he requested a public hearing of his case.

FULL TEXT: CHRAJ report on Adom-Otchere's 2021 Xmas Tree decor at KIA

He added that the Commission declined his request, expressing his disappointment in its decision.

“It [Christmas tree saga] was a much ado about nothing. Again, it was political. Eventually the matter went to CHRAJ actually, and I had appeared before CHRAJ, and CHRAJ gave a ruling that we believe completely exonerated us.

“The only disappointment I had with CHRAJ was that when I went in, I told him that I wanted this filmed. I told him that Mr Commissioner, it's a public hearing. I really want this filmed because I don't want your ruling to come out and people say this and that. Let's film it and let everybody see what's happening here,” he said on JoyNews on Thursday, November 6, 2025.

“He declined and so when the ruling came and people were picking parts of the ruling and making a case, I told these people that this is the reason why I wanted it filmed. That was really my disappointment,” Adom-Otchere added.

Background

The Christmas tree controversy centered on alleged procurement breaches and the acquisition of Christmas decorations for the company, which involved huge expenditures and sparked public criticism and backlash in 2022.

A journalist, Sacut Amenga-Etego, petitioned the Commission on what he claimed was a misuse of public funds in the procurement of Christmas trees by Paul Adom-Otchere.

He said Adom-Otchere had failed to invite at least three vendors to submit bids for the procurement of the Christmas trees.

He added that the total value of the decorations is above the threshold of requesting quotations from vendors and that the call for bids ought to have been advertised in newspapers, according to the Public Procurement Act, Act 663.

No evidence of breach was found – Adom-Otchere 'freed' from Christmas tree decor allegations

The journalist further argued that there was a breach of procurement when the cost of GH₵ 118, 000.00, was divided, so it stayed within the GHC 100,000.00 threshold for price quotation.

CHRAJ, however, in its findings said it found no evidence of procurement breach. It stated, however, that it was wrong for him to be “requesting for invoices and his appearances in the media in respect of matters involving the GACL of which he is the Board Chairman.”

MAG/VPO

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