Ernest Norgbey
An Accra High Court has granted opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey, partial access to some procurement documents of the Electoral Commission (EC).
The MP was before the court seeking access to certain documents relating to the procurement of two consultants by the EC and whether the procurements were made in accordance with the Public Procurement Act 2003, (Act 663).
Besides, he was seeking information from the EC regarding the purchase of a new biometric voter management system (BVMS), and whether there was any tender process which led to the procurement of the equipment.
He claimed in his writ before the court that failure by the EC to grant his access to that information amounted to an infringement of his right to information.
In its response to the writ, the EC averred that the NDC MP did not follow the laid-down procedures in accessing such information, adding that the manner in which the applicant demanded access to those documents were in breach of Sections 28 and 51 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
It was also the argument of the EC that although it recognizes the NDC MP’s right to information, it could not release the documents to him, as Parliament was yet to fix a fee one has to pay before being granted access to information under the Right to Information Act (Act 989).
The EC further argued that the applicant’s reliefs sought in the affidavit in support of the writ were attempts to side-step the requirements and procedure specifically laid down by statute for exercising the right to information and, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the writ.
The court, presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo, in her judgement, held that the failure of Parliament to enact a law on the appropriate amount to be paid to have access to information from public institutions should not be a reason to deny citizens their rights to information.
The court subsequently set GH¢1,500 as a reasonable fee to be paid by the MP to enable him to access the information.
The court subsequently granted the relief seeking access to information relating to the procurement of the two consultants – Dr. Ofori-Adjei, IT Consultant, and A. Afrifa, a procurement consultant, and whether the procurement was made in accordance with the Public Procurement Act.
The court, however, refused the reliefs seeking a copy of award letter from the EC to Thales DIS in respect of the acquisition of the hardware component of the new voter management system.
The court also refused the relief seeking the entire record of the procurement proceedings for the acquisition of the hardware component of the new voter management system services consisting of but not limited to invitation to tender, the procurement notice, the technical and financial evaluation reports and all amendments or revisions of these reports.
Again, Justice Agyei Addo refused the relief seeking copies of all documents in relation to or concerning the procurement process for the acquisition of the hardware component of the new voter management system because the court does not have the jurisdiction to grant such reliefs.
The court said the documents in respect of which the first relief was granted must be made available to the court registrar within 30 days from yesterday.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak