We write this petition pursuant to article 218(a) (c) of the 1992 constitution and section 7(1)
(a) of CHRAJ Act for CHRAJ to investigate the procurement of 280,000 laptops by the
Ministry of Education.
Innovative Teachers was registered on 6th December 2010 and on 30th July 2012 it became
full-fledged Trade Union recognized by the laws of Ghana.
All Teachers Alliance Ghana has been registered and it is a fully-fledged Trade Union since
7th September 2016.
The request for investigation has become necessary because the procurement of two
hundred and eighty thousand (280,000) laptops ought to result in a significant reduction in the
price for teachers and the taxpayer to pay.
The cost of each laptop is purported to be 1,550 cedis and we suspect that this amount is
inflated. A thorough investigation into the procurement will vindicate our position.
The highest price for this TMI laptop in our estimation must not be more than 600 Ghana
cedis gave the specifications of this laptop and the colossal number of 280,000 laptops.
It is trite knowledge that manufacturing of electronic gadgets in large quantities makes the
price per item very loW.
One wonders why private businessmen procuring thousands of electronic gadgets from the
same companies abroad get huge discounts but when it comes to the use of the taxpayers
money to procure the same electronic gadgets the story is the direct opposite.
The Ministry of Education must provide answers to the following questions and any other
questions the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice may deem appropriate
in its investigation.
.What is the name of the IT company or the IT consultant who worked on the
procurement of the TMI laptops?
- Did the Ministry of Education contract a company to supply the TMI laptops or signed
the contract directly with the manufacturer of the TMI laptops? - On which date was the tender invitation published and where is the copy of the tender
an invitation if the tender was through competitive tendering? - What is the name of the company that won the contract to supply the laptops if the
procurement contract was given to a company? - Which year was the company that won the contract incorporated, the names of these
Directors, Secretary, the company’s valid business registration certificates, valid tax
clearance certificate and VAT Registration certificate?
What is the name of the manufacturer producing the TMI laptops?
- Why did the Ministry of Education bypass Dell, Toshiba, Acer, hp, Lenovo, and other
established brands with a reputation for producing quality laptops of global acclaim for
this manufacturer?
- In which country are the TMI laptops being manufactured?
- Did a delegation made up of procurement officers from the Ministry of Education and
technical experts visit the manufacturer to conduct due diligence to ascertain the
competence of the manufacturer to produce the laptops? - What was the report of the delegation that visited the manufacturer if a delegation
visited?
- What is the name of a customer of the manufacturer who gave a good testimonial about
the performance of the TMI laptops since HTML is not a known brand? - What is the track record of this company in the manufacturing of laptops and how many
years have they been manufacturing laptops? - Was the contract given through single-source tendering or competitive tendering?
14.If it was through single-source tendering did it meet the following conditions as set out
in section 40 of the Public Procurement Act (663)
(a) Is the TMI laptop a proprietary product that is manufactured by that company only?
(b) What is the urgency in the procurement of laptops for teachers?
(c) Has the Ministry of Education bought TMI laptops from this company before and
the company give a good price for this laptop and as a result, the company got the
contract to manufacture?
(d) Has the Ministry of Education entered into a research agreement with this company
to produce unique laptops with patented features to specifically aid teachers in
coaching?
(e) Does the procurement of the laptops a National Security matters which must not go
through competitive lending
15.Ir the Ministry of Education reported to singe-ur tendering or competitive
tmderirg we would like request tor a copy or copies of the contract bids from the
Public Procurement sections (2) or the Public Procurement Act,
663.
- Did the Ministry of Education write to Public Procurement Authority asking same to
grant it the permission to single-source the laptops citing reasons based on the
Procurement Act as amended and did Public Procurement Authority give authorization
for the single-source enticing - What is the name of the IT company or the names of TT consultants who authorized the
mass production of the TMI laptops when the samples were brought to the Ministry of
Education for examination - Has the Ministry of Education signed services ad maintenance agreement with the
manufacturing company concerning the 1TM1 laptops by Procurement
of information Technology Products? - Is there an invoice from the manufacturer detailing specific numbers of laptops with
different prices For example 10,000 laptops=y dollars or I00,000 laptops=x Dollars
We respectfully request CHRAJ request the Ministry of Education to provide all the
documents concerning the procurement of the TMI laptops by the law.
The investigation must include request for quotations from at least five companies in the
a country that the TMI laptops are being produced.
We would like CHRAJ to weigh the response from Ministry of Education to our petition based
on Procurement of information Technology Products by the Public Procurement Authority
issued in 2019 and the procurement Act as amended.
Images of the laptops and Standard Tender Document on the Procurement of Information
Technology Products are attached.