Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) has been hit by another scandal after spending a whopping $2.5 billion to buy 18 iPhone 13s.
BOST has now procured tea machines at a cost of GH¢2.3 million days after news of the 18 iPhone procurement scandal hit the ears of the news world.
The latest procurement deal at BOST was transacted through single sourcing, which has caused dissatisfaction among the populace.
The said contract tender number, which Ghanaians have caught a glimpse of for the juicy tea machine contract, was GR/BOST GD/0007/2022 and was executed on July 22, 2022, with which the aforementioned tea machine was delivered on the same date.
BOST at the center of the tea machine procurement was Rageita Company Limited.
In a leaked conversation intercepted by MyNewsGh.com, the Managing Director of BOST, Mr. Edwin Provencal, claimed that the said machines were hungrily needed to provide hot beverages to staff and visitors to BOST offices and its other facilities at that huge cost of Ghc2.3 million.
However, many industry players, not excluding some staff of the company, have inquired about the essence of the machines and the cost of procurement.
They have also raised concerns about the fact that the procurement was done through single sourcing. This comes at the backdrop of days after the company blew over 250,000 Cedis to procure 18 iPhone 13s for top management of the company in collaboration with a non-existent company per Registrar General Checks.
The term single sourcing refers to a procurement method in which a government entity or company awards a contract to a single supplier without going through a competitive bidding process.
Some say this corrupt, infested lifestyle and other sole sourcing methods have been amply abused by BOST under the leader, Mr. Edwin Provencal, who reportedly claims he is unimpeachable and untouchable because he’s among the top-notch figures in Ghana under this current administration.
In the case of BOST procurement, experts have waded into the controversy, saying there was no justification for using single sourcing for procurement deals and also that the prices were rip-offs.
They indicated that there are a bunch of suppliers of hot beverage dispensing machines in Ghana and that BOST could have reached out to them for a better deal if it had gone through a competitive bidding process.
Meanwhile, the PPA, which is responsible for overseeing public procurement in Ghana, is believed to be in cahoots with the state-owned company by granting several approvals for similar contracts, which is utterly inimical to the growth of the country.
By Lawrence Odoom