Monrovia — Eric Akoi, former Procurement Director of the Ministry of Finance has accused Bill McGill Jones, the Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Finance for Development Planning of wrongfully dismissing him.
Responding to Minister Jones' allegation that he was suspended for contract-fixing and questionable transactions, Mr. Akoi said he was fired because he refused to violate procurement procedures.
The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, in February this year entered into a contractual agreement with RoviaGate Technology, LLC, represented by Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oliver Wleh Klark, Jr. The contract, worth US$200,000 included the annual update and implementation of the budget Management system for Fiscal Year 2024.
However, Akoi, who had served as Procurement Director of the Ministry before his dismissal, alleged that the contract was awarded outside of the PPCC law. Akoi accused Jones of requesting him to increase the cost of the Budget Management System Contract the Ministry signed with RoviaGate Technology, LLCT from US$180,000 to US$240,000, with the excess US$60,000 as his signature fee.
According to him, the service provider had already agreed during the negotiation to perform the service for US$180,000 within the same turnaround time as the US$200,000. But when the documents were presented to Mr. Jones for his signature on February 9, 2024, he refused on grounds that he needed to know what was available for him before affixing his signature.
"He was informed that we had concluded with the vendor to maintain the same cost of US$180,000 and that no additional amount was added because there were no significant additional deliverables. It was at this point that DMA Jones instructed for an increment to US$240,000 to which I declined."
The Ministry or Mr. Jones did not respond to FrontPageAfrica's inquiry about Akoi's allegation up to time of publication, but in a statement issued earlier through its communications department, the ministry said the budget management system contract was awarded to RoviaGate Technology, LLCT in line with established laws.
"The Ministry unequivocally states that the contract for the execution of the project was in strict adherence to the regulations of the Public Procurement and Concession Act of 2010."
In the statement, the ministry stated that the project had three options. The first option proposed that the estimated cost for this project is US$220,000 with an expected turnaround time of two weeks after receipt of payment. Under the second option, the ministry stated the company put the estimated cost of the project at US$200,000 with an estimated turnover time of four weeks after receipt of payment, while the third option states that the estimated cost for the project is US$180,000 with an expected turnaround time of eight weeks after receipt of payment.
The Ministry noted that the justification for selecting the second option of US$200,000 was based on the four-week turnaround period provided by the vendor and the pressing need to resubmit the draft budget to the legislature, as well as to facilitate the configuration, upgrade, and maintenance services for the Budget Management System to produce the Budget Book for Fiscal Year 2024 (January 1, 2024-December 31, 2024).
It added that the adjustment to the Budget Management System (BMS) cost has been done with the previous government based on the different enhancements requested by the Ministry and implemented by the vendor.
However, in his rejoinder to what he termed as "DMA Bill McGill Jones' misinformation on contract-fixing and questionable transactions at MFDP," Akoi stated that due to his constant refusal to inflate the already agreed amount with the vendor, on grounds of insufficient justification to increase the value of the contract, DMA Jones requested US$220,000 instead of his initial demand of US$240,000, but he refused. Then on February 29, 2024, Jones requested that he proceed with the same documents to his office and expressed his insistence on increasing the contract cost, this time to US$200,000.
"Considering that I had bought enough time, yet he was still bent on having his way in contrast to the law, I requested him to send me an email or give me a written instruction for the increment. He then wrote on the previous communication instructing me to change the contract figure from US$180,000 to US$200,000."
Akoi said consistent with the amended and restated PPC Act of 2010, section 64 sub section 2b as referenced in the Press release as reason for the change in cost of the Budget Management System Contract, is a misrepresentation of the law and is not applicable with the conditions set above.
This section, he noted, applies to the procurement of goods and works, not consultancy as in the case of the Budget Management System Contract.
"Predicated on the above provision, the Procurement Unit freely negotiated with RoviaGate for the cost of US$180,000 and submitted the documents to DMA Jones for his signature but he elected to have increased the figure to US$200,000 for his personal benefit."
He further revealed that DMA Jones has awarded all of the IT related contracts to the same service provider; even though they were not the most responsive bidders.
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He alleged that due to his refusal to act inconsistent with relevant procurement laws, DMA Jones, on March 6, 2024, suspended him for a procurement of staff buses that was investigated, agreement concluded and signed by him (Mr. Jones) and the Supplier, Duke Carmax, Inc.
According to Akoi, DMA Jones linked him to findings from an Internal Audit investigation; though the said investigation report did not hold him liable for any payment issue as he claimed.
Again, Akoi said following his suspension, Jones finally dismissed him on March 16, 2024 after he linked him to what Jones termed as a "special investigation." He said findings of this investigation were not shared with him.
In his statement, he said "Considering the foregoing, one can clearly understand that this wrongful dismissal is sentimental and a witch-hunt because of my earlier stance against doing the wrong thing."
"I have all of the relevant documents surrounding these circumstances, including the entire documents for the bidding process (Staff busses), the Promissory Note (Contract) signed by Duke Carmax, Inc. and DMA Jones following the investigation and the copy of the written instruction for increment, etc."
