The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has begun investigations into the award of procurement and usage of information technology (IT)-related projects of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) from 2014 to the early part of 2017.
This follows the interdiction of the GPHA’s IT Manager, David Boison, who is said to have been implicated in an investigative report conducted by the authority from April to August 2017.
The interdiction letter, signed by the acting Director-General of the authority, Paul Asare Ansah, cited Boison for engaging in unethical conduct by negotiating project costs upwards.
Part of the letter read: “We refer to the committee that investigated the procurement and the usage of IT-related projects and programmes report and wish to inform you that prima facie evidence has been established against you. You are, therefore, interdicted, effective August 14, 2017, for further investigations into the various allegations that have come up.â€
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David Boison has been accused of supervising the procurement of up to $736,666,26 IT related equipment for an IT project for the GHPA. While 80 percent of the amount was paid, suppliers provided receipts to claim the outstanding 20 percent even though the items in question were never supplied.
Boison is also said to have certified projects as completed when some of them were actually at their initial stages or were never executed.
Among other allegations, Boison is said to have been involved in overpricing of handheld devices that were supposed to be used for the paperless port project in accordance with the authority's port automation project under the authority's past Director-General. The procurement of the devices was already approved by the Public Procurement Authority at a cost of $622,094 from a South African firm, while investigations revealed that the devices were actually procured at around $201,720, indicating that the contract was overpriced at over $420,374.
Read also:  Paperless System at Ports Implementation on Schedule – Govt.
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