The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) has procured tea machines at a cost of GH¢2.3 million days after news of 18 iPhones procurement hit the newsstand.
The latest procurement at BOST was done through single sourcing, which has sparked controversy
The contract tender number captured for the juicy tea machine contract was GR/BOST GD/0007/2022 and was executed on 22nd July 2022 with the machine delivered on the same date.
The company 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 machines were needed to provide hot beverages to staff and visitors to BOST offices and its other facilities at that exorbitant cost of Ghc2.3million.
However, some industry players as well as staff of the company have questioned the need for the machines and the cost of procurement. They have also expressed concern about the fact that the procurement was done through single sourcing.
This comes days after the company blew over 250,000 Cedis to procure 18 iphone 13s for top management of the company in partnership with a non-existent company per Registrar General Checks.
Single sourcing is a procurement method in which a government entity or company awards a contract to a single supplier without going through a competitive bidding process. They say this style and other sole sourcing methods have been serially abused by BOST under Mr Edwin Provencal who reportedly claims he is untouchable.
In the case of the BOST procurement, experts argued that there was no justification for using single sourcing and also that the prices were rip-offs. They have said that there are many suppliers of hot beverage dispensing machines in Ghana and that BOST could have gotten a better deal if it had gone through a competitive bidding process.
The PPA which is responsible for overseeing public procurement in Ghana is said to be in cahoots with the state-owned company by granting several approvals for similar contracts.
Mynewsgh.com