Adjenim Boateng Adjei, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) boss who was fired by President Akufo-Addo over self-dealing , has been named in the cast of characters who acted together to secretly position Finance Minister, Ken Ofori- Atta as the transaction advisor for the stinking Agyapa Minerals Royalties deal.
A report on Martin Amidus’ corruption risk assessment places Adjei as an important catalyst who was used to breach procurement procedures to set up a fronting company for Databank to ultimately win a restricted tender to be financial advisor.
The disgraced former PPA boss intentionally wrote a letter to request for Ofori-Atta’s Finance Ministry to furnish the PPA with a shortlist of companies that the Ministry had decided on for a restricted tender, when the Ministry had already delivered the list of companies to Adjei’s office.
This created the room for the Finance Ministry to insert the name of its fronting company into a new shortlist.
The consequently allowed the bidding process to be rigged for the company fronting for Databank, South Africa-based Imara Corporate Finance Pty to be inserted.
In October 2017, the Finance Ministry had decided to appoint a Transaction Advisor, under restricted tendering, for a Special Purpose Vehicle, which would later be called Agyapa Mineral Royalties, with which to raise money on the London Stock exchange. The Ministry presented a list of companies it had decided on.
The companies were Artemis Natural Resources Corporation of Canada, Tripple Flag Mining Finance Ltd, also of Canada, Petrodel Investors Advisors Ltd of Nevis and Natixis Global Markets Commodities Ltd of Paris, Franc.
However, after the Ministry had presented the list, Adjenim Boateng Adjei, the PPA boss, strangely wrote to the Ministry again, On 13th October 2017, asking for another list of companies that the Ministry had decided to consider for the restricted tendering, along with further particulars.
Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu’s corruption risk assessment, points out that this second request by the PPA boss was what created opportunity for shadiness to enter the restricted tendering process.
“The PPA letter of 13th October, 2017, asking for the list of firms to be invited to tender is suspicious because the list was provided in the Ministry’s letter referenced by the Chief Executive Officer of the PPA in his letter,” Amidu wrote.
Imara would go on to eventually win the bid under shady circumstances and then enter into an agreement with Databank, which belongs to Ofori-Atta, to be its local partners.