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PPA busts road contractor using fake certificate

A road contractor has accused the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) of wrongly suspending and blacklisting his company over a contract in which his company did not participate.

Chief Executive of Markyei Company Limited, Kofi Kyei Baffour has told Corruption Watch that his company did not bid for the three road contracts that the PPA cited in a suspension notice. 

Recently, Corruption Watch discovered that the Public Procurement Authority had “suspended and blacklisted” Markyei Company Limited “from participating in any government project or tender” in the country.

According to a notice published on the PPA’s website (https://ppa.gov.gh/) on September 22, 2021, the PPA has “suspended and blacklisted” Markyei Company Limited for a period of one year. 

The PPA notice stated that the sanctions commenced on August 11, 2021 and will last until close of business on August 11, 2022. 

According to the procurement ombudsman, it has suspended and blacklisted Markyei Company Limited for submitting “fake PPA Supplier registration certificate, in a tender by the Department of Feeder Roads (DFR) for resealing and upgrading of roads in the Kwahu East and South and Birim South District, Eastern Region.” 

According to the PPA, the company’s behaviour constitutes “A fraudulent action and an infringement of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended.”

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Ghanaians do not need to fix themselves – They need good leadership

A few weeks ago a group launched a campaign with the hashtag FixTheCountry. The group was calling on the Government to fix the unstable electricity and water supply, reduce the incidence of corruption, stop illegal mining and solve the unemployment problem.

Another group opposed to the FixTheCountry group emerged with the hashtag FixYourself.

Sovereignty they say resides and flows from the people so the people have a right to question ineffective government policies and actions and condemn unethical behaviour. People have important roles to play in the development of a nation.

Unfortunately, in Ghana the active participation of the people is limited to lining up to cast a vote at polling booths and the occasional complaints and participation in demonstrations and strikes. We hardly question our political leaders except at election time. Do we hold our leaders accountable for their actions and decisions?

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Parliament passes Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill to make corruption felony

Parliament has passed the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill 2020, categorizing the offence of corruption as a felony.

The move is to introduce stiffer punishment to deter public officers from engaging in corrupt practices

Following the amendment, subject to presidential assent, a person found guilty of engaging in any form of corrupt act could go to jail between for not less than 12 years and not more than 25 years.

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Mike Ohene-Effah: The Missing Manifesto

All the major political parties have launched their manifestoes for the December general elections.

This is highly commendable as it largely makes the campaigns issues-based…hopefully.

A manifesto is a declaration of aims and policy. It asks the question, “What do you believe?” It is supposed to be a party’s central policy document, and the political parties must be commended for making good progress on this since 1992, though we are increasingly seeing a shift to a litany of promises, projects and programmes in party manifestoes.

To begin with, various academics and governance experts in Ghana have raised issues with what the focus, content and size of political party manifestoes should be.

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The Better Corruption Solution: Examining anti-corruption measures in 2020 NDC & NPP Manifestos

In December 2018, the civil society fraternity under the auspices of Corruption Watch raised concerns about “the creeping normalization of corruption among the populace” pointing out that it poses a threat to development. The civil society actors pointed to several indices to drum home the point that Ghana has stagnated in its fight against corruption for the last decade or so.

For purposes of this discussion and in order to balance the scale for the NPP and NDC, we can examine indices for the eight-year period 2013-2020.

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CHRAJ urges Domelevo to file complaint over forced proceed-on-leave directive

Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice has described as unfortunate the Executive directive to the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, to proceed on leave.

The comments by Joseph Whittal on the sidelines of the launch of the Citizens Anti-Corruption Manifesto last week adds to the plethora of criticisms that has hit the presidential directive forcing the Auditor-General to take his accumulated 167 days’ leave.

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Ghana: Election 2020 – the Role of Citizens and Political Parties

Come 7th December, 2020 Ghanaians will go to the polls to choose (vote) their Members of Parliament as well as a President to run the affairs of the country for the next four years. The right to vote is considered as one of the first generation rights due to its implications for individuals’ liberties. Indeed, it is through the exercise of the right to vote that citizens express their preferences for which political party or candidate should govern them and also through which citizens hold governments accountable by voting them out of power if not satisfied with their performance.

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Corruption to be made a felony in Ghana; stiffer punishment for culprits

Government has initiated processes in Parliament towards making corruption a more unrewarding venture.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo has in this regard presented to Parliament the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

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Over 2,700 Ghanaians sign petition demanding Domelevo’s recall

About 2,700 individuals have signed a petition calling on President Akufo-Addo to reconsider his directive for the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo to take his accumulated leave.

These calls follow similar moves by other civil society organisations demanding the A-G’s return from his 167 leave days.

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500 CSOs want President to rescind decision on Domelevo

About 500 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) across the country have begun a campaign to get President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to rescind his decision on the Auditor-General (AG), Daniel Domelevo’s accumulated leave.

Under the taglines #bringbackdomelevo and #letinstitutionswork, the CSOs are of the view that the action by the President was unconstitutional and a threat to the liberation of the AG and other independent governance institutions.

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