Former PPA CEO pleads not guilty to fresh charges

Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei, has pleaded not guilty to the fresh criminal charges filed against him by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The charges, which were filed at the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra last Wednesday, are eight counts of using public office for profit and indirectly influencing procurement processes to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of procurement contracts.

The court, presided over by Justice Maries-Louis Simmons, admitted Adjei to bail in the sum of GH¢4 million with two sureties, both to be justified. As part of the bail conditions, the Registrar is to confirm from relevant authorities the authenticity of documents from the sureties, who are to deposit their Ghana Cards.

Mr Adjei is to produce every passport he has in his possession to the Registrar. The case has been adjourned to May 14, 2024, for a Case Management Conference.

Old charges withdrawn

Earlier in the day, Mr Adjei and his brother-in-law, Francis Kwaku Arhin, were discharged by a different court where they had been standing trial for the past one year and 11 months.

That was after a prosecutor from the OSP, Adelaide Kobiri-Woode, notified the court of her intention to withdraw the case involving 18 counts of using public office for profit and nine counts of directly and indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract against the two.

Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh struck out the old charges as withdrawn. The withdrawn charges were filed in May 2022.

Before he was discharged, the prosecution’s star witness, Manasseh Azure Awuni, who conducted the investigation leading to the interdiction of Adjei, was under cross-examination by lawyers for the accused.

Source: Graphiconline