By Julian Owusu-Abedi
The Prestige Multimedia Ltd and Lucsmani Company Limited both suing in their various capacities have pleaded with the High Court to ask the National Lottery Authority(NLA) to cough up a whooping Gh¢10,000,000 for special damages of loss, breach of contract and cost including Solicitor’s fee.
The Plaintiffs acting through their Lawyer Mr. Oliver Atsu Abada indicated that Prestige Multimedia had won a contract to originally sole-source for the supply of branded patches and jackets for the NLA sometime in 2011.
Whiles Lucsmani Company Limited also had a contract for the collection and replacement of faulty portable data processing machines (PADPMs) for which the Plaintiff bid and was also awarded that contract.
The Lucsmani says it was in the same vein that it made all the efforts in renting office spaces across the then ten regions of the country as well as recruiting staffs and branding of offices as well as vehicles and motorcycles went to waste as Defendant reneged on the contract for the replacement of the faulty portable data processing machines (PADPMs).
But to the surprise of Prestige Multimedia it said, while it waited in vain to get the green-light to supply the goods that had then arrived in the country, it learnt later that an employee of the Defendant (NLA) in the person of Kojo Graham who was then the Chairman of the Entity Tender Committee to whom Prestige’s managing director had shown the samples of the patches and jackets to later turned around to have his(Kojo Graham) company Meridian Consolidated Ventures rather supply the goods.
Prestige said, the goods imported has been lying idle while owing to the breach of the contract it could not muster the necessary funds to clear some of them from the Tema Port where same was affected by demurrage.
Again, it indicated that it had been fortunate enough to have cleared the remaining undelivered and same had lain idle in its warehouse at the Trade Fair Site, here in Accra until sometime last year the Trade Fair Company too without any recourse to it pulled down the warehouse leading to the damage of the goods.
They are by these making a plea for a declaration that by the refusal of the Defendant to give the go ahead to supply the pouches and branded jackets it had won through a public competitive bidding, the Defendant has breached its contract with it for the supply of the goods.
Another declaration that the by-passing of the Plaintiff by the Defendant to accept the supplies of goods by another entity other than the Plaintiff that had won the bid to supply the goods at a public competitive bidding amount to a violation of the National Procurement Act.
All culminating into cost for Special damages to the tune of GHS 10,000,000.00 including damages for breach of contract and costs including solicitor’s fees