Do your rights diminish when you are board chairman? – Adom-Otchere reacts to CHRAJ report on KIA X'mas tree décor

Broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere has commented on the report of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on a 2021 petition brought against him as the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) regarding the purchase of Christmas decorations for the company.

The journalist commended CHRAJ for the work it did but was not happy about some of the “opinions” the commission shared on his actions as board chairman of GACL in the purchase of the decoration.

He denied an assertion by the commission that he interfered in the work of the management of the Airport Company with his role in the purchase of the Christmas decoration, even though he is barred by law from doing so, as board chairman.

He explained that he only took action in the purchase of the Christmas decoration because the management had planned to use a huge sum of money to purchase it.

He added that he only helped find a private company to sponsor the purchase of the decoration and asked for the invoices on the transactions to ensure that the limit set by the board was adhered to.

“The board charter of the GACL is clear, it requires the board to have a certain oversight responsibility over the management. In doing so, you will request some documents from the management… I don’t understand how a board that should naturally have a review jurisdiction over management cannot ask for documents like invoices,” he said in an interview on Citi FM monitored by GhanaWeb.

Adom-Otchere also refuted the assertion of CHRAJ that it was wrong for him to discuss issues of the board on his TV programme.

He said that he had every right on the issue as a citizen of Ghana to comment on the issue, because it was being discussed by the public and he did not violate the oath of secrecy by revealing secrets of the GACL board.

“… do your right diminish under chapter 5 of the Constitution when you are board chairman?” he quizzed.

He added that he only commented on the issues on the purchase of the Christmas decoration because Ghanaians were being fed with lies on the transaction.

About the CHRAJ investigation:

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has issued a report on a 2021 petition brought against the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Paul Adom-Otchere.

CHRAJ said despite not finding evidence of procurement breaches as alleged by petitioner, Sacut Amenga-Etego, in the matter of purchase of Christmas inspirations at the Kotoko International Airport (KIA), they found that some actions by Adom-Otchere amounted to abuse of his office and meddling in the affairs of the company.

CHRAJ's 55-page report said it was wrong for the Board Chair 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 does not auger well for good corporate governance.

“We recommend that the respondent should restrain himself from interfering in the work of management and restrict himself purely to his prescribed functions as Board Chairman,” it further said.

What the petitioner said:

The petitioner alleged that Adom-Otchere had, among others, 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.

Amega-Etego also 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.

The report said none of his reliefs sought including that Adom-Otchere be referred to the Attorney-General for prosecution could be granted.

BAI/OGB



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