Wednesday 19th September, 2018
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Hohoe (V/R), Sept. 19, GNA – The African
Development Bank (AfDB) Group has excluded the African Center for Applied
Forest Research and Development (CARFAD), a consultancy based in Yaoundé,
Cameroon, and Mr Benjamin Tchoffo, its executive director, from doing business
with the bank for a minimum period of 36 months.
An investigation by the AfDB Integrity and
Anti-Corruptio
By
Maxwell Awumah, GNA
Hohoe (V/R), Sept. 19, GNA – The African
Development Bank (AfDB) Group has excluded the African Center for Applied
Forest Research and Development (CARFAD), a consultancy based in Yaoundé,
Cameroon, and Mr Benjamin Tchoffo, its executive director, from doing business
with the bank for a minimum period of 36 months.
An investigation by the AfDB Integrity and
Anti-Corruption Bureau, according to its release copied to the Ghana News
Agency, said Mr Tchoffo and CARFAD engaged in an obstructive manoeuvre by
significantly impeding the exercise by the Bank’s right to conduct inspections
and audits.
The consulting firm had previously won a
contract under the Agroforestry Development Support Project (PADA) in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The PADA was funded from the resources of the
Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) hosted within the Bank.
It said in a release during the exclusion
period, neither Mr Tchoffo nor CARFAD are eligible for the award of contracts
financed by the Bank.
The Integrity and Anti-Corruption Office of
the AfDB is responsible for the prevention, deterrence and investigation of
corruption, fraud and other punishable practices in operations financed by the
bank group.
It said the general public and staff could use
the Offices of Integrity and Anti-Corruption to expose punishable practices
within the Bank or in the operations it finances.
GNA