C-Poly Scandal Part 2

By: Winson. V. A. Addotey

Professor Robert Nkum, the Rector of the Cape Coast Polytechnic in the Central Region, may have a barrage of questions to answer on a despicable degree of frightening rots, happening right under his watch, while he pretended all was well with the school.

Meanwhile, the students, especially the helpless ones on campus may be right in expressing their murderous rage and resentment about the outrageous activities, hitting the once reputable institution in the region.

Documents stumbled upon by the Crystal Clear Lens suggested sheer abuse and flagrant disregard for the procurement processes, in some cases the Rector was said to have usurped the authority of the Chairman of the Entity Tender Committee (Tertiary Institutions), which is, normally headed by Chairperson of the Council of the school.

Among other disturbing activities on the campus, documents uncovered a number of contracts that have been awarded to companies, mainly in the year of 2008, but so sickening is the fact that the existence of these companies is hardly traceable.

Significantly, the documents show that under the watch of the embattled Rector in November 2008 a company by name Ekosacks Enterprise was handed over, coolly, a contract to supply a quantity of a custom-made ceremonial cloth to the school and (at a contract value withheld for now).

The documents again state that this Ekosacks Enterprise won the contract in a questionable competitive bid with three (3) companies. These companies were Premium African Textile Limited, Ghana Textile Manufacturing Co Limited and Printex Co Gh. Limited.

What is intriguing is that fact whereas the type of business of Ekosacks Enterprise shrouded in mystery; the other three companies, of which none could get the contract, were capable textile companies. This came about after thorough background checks by the paper.

Meanwhile, painstaking investigations by the paper have disputed the legitimacy and existence of Ekosacks Enterprise. Additionally, the company and the proprietor’s names as well as the address appear to be counterfeit.

Our further checks from the Registrar General's Department (RGD) further raised the doubts about the existence and the legality of the company, which unfortunately was given the contract. The company could almost not be traced at the RGD.

But there was an interesting revelation in the course of our checks at the RGD. The paper came across a registered company, bearing some features of the above mentioned so called company, and this has increased more suspicions in the whole transaction of the school and the ownership of the company.

The paper can confidently report the following disclosures. The registered company’s name at the RGD is Ekosack Enterprise. This company has its proprietor’s name and business address as follows: Mr. Egya Kow Sackey and Postal Office Box 600, Accra. Its principal place of business is; House Number 264/11, Alabama-Odorkor.

It's type of business is dealing in Musical Equipment and Agricultural Products. Obviously, by this information this company cannot in any stretch of imagination enter into contract which has to do with manufacturing of textiles.

Now, the following are the particulars of the company that got the contract - and the name of the proprietor and the address - : Ekosacks Enterprise, Mr. Joseph Ekow Sackey, Postal Office Box OD 581, Odorkor, Accra. There is no information about this company’s business and type of projects it deals in.

Comparatively, information in the documents sighted and pieces of information gathered by the paper have exposed the C-Poly administration and the Rector of some underhand dealings. The Rector needs to explain to Ghanaians how a ghost company got the contract from the school.

Did Prof. Nkum award the contract to the so-called company long before he called for Tender Panel Evaluation Meeting on the matter? Was the contract value of the project far above his domain? Has he increased the quantity of the school cloths and its total amount? Did he submit the project to the Entity Tender Board Committee? Stay tuned.