Two times Adom-Otchere has been exposed

Comparatively and competitively, his show may not be up there in terms of numbers.

However, Paul Adom Otchere has grown his Good Evening Ghana programme on Metro TV into one that sets and generates serious conversations on national matters.

While he effortlessly uses his platform to challenge persons who fall on the wrong side of his radar, the vociferous

Read full articlejournalist has ever been caught in his tracks.

He has been questioned about his integrity, and such questions stem from his sworn venture to defend the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at all cost.

However, Adom-Otchere has been proven not to be a saint as he has occasionally been caught spewing utter falsehoods.

The backfired attempt to prove a friendship

In 2016, the man with over 20 years of journalism history was interviewed on Bola Ray’s Starr Chat show on Starr FM.

While answering a question about who he thought was the best morning show host at the time, Paul Adom-Otchere sought to explain the history and close relationship he shared with Robert Nii Ardey Clegg of Starr FM, who was presented to him as one of the options to choose from.

In his bid to emphasise his relationship with Nii Ardey Clegg, Paul Adom-Otchere claimed that Clegg ever helped him by writing an Interim Assessment on his behalf during their university days as coursemates.

Seeing the bad light the claim by Adom-Otchere cast on his integrity, Nii Ardey Clegg took to his morning show to clear himself of engaging in such illegality at the university.

After ranting about the claims, Ardey Clegg, in an impromptu fashion, called Adom-Otchere on his programme about the claim.

Confronted by a furious former university coursemate, Paul Adom-Otchere admitted on live radio that he lied about having an Interim Assessment taken on his behalf by Nii Ardey Clegg.

Paul Adom-Otchere decorates airport Christmas tree with lies

Somewhere in 2021, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced what has been perceived by many as a reward for a man who has vehemently mounted a spirited defence for his government.

Paul Adom-Otchere, as part of the president’s second term government appointments, was named as the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airport Company Limited.

Some months after his appointment, the Ghana Airports was hit with a scandal with the Board Chairman taking centre stage.

Some decorations mounted at the Kotoka International Airport during the 2021 Christmas festive season became a topic of discussion with concerns of cost and procurement breaches.

The airport decorations became a matter of public discussion after some invoices issued in the name of the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, Paul Adom-Otchere, surfaced on the internet.

While some persons raised concerns about the cost of the decorations, others raised concerns about procurement breaches for the decorations, which cost over GHC118,000.

In defence of the concerns, Paul Adom-Otchere, among other things, outlined that suppliers and bids were sourced in the award of the contract for purchasing the decorations.

“FACT: Two separate suppliers were invited to submit bids. The bids were discussed, and discounts obtained. (We are grateful to Jandel Limited and Favors and Arts).

“FACT: The beautiful Christmas tree standing at Terminal 3 and 3 others altogether cost GHC 34,000, which was graciously provided by Jandel Limited at a heavy discount. (We thank Jandel Limited).

“FACT: The other inspirations were provided by Favors and Arts for a total cost of GHS 84,000 out of which GHC 50,000 was obtained via sponsorship,” Paul Adom-Otchere said in a Facebook post on January 7, 2022.

In a bid to establish the veracity of his claims, a fellow of the New Generation Investigative Journalism Fellowship of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Redeemer Buatsi, invoked the Right to Information Act, 2019 (ACT989) to seek information about the procurement of the Christmas decorations.

The Ministry of Transport, with oversight responsibility of the management of GACL, responded to the request with details which contradicted the Board Chair.

Whereas Paul Adom-Otchere, on his programme and a Facebook post, explicitly stated that procurement processes were followed for the decorations, the ministry said: “there was no procurement nor bidding process for the award of contract.”

Again, while the Board Chair stated that the decorations, including Christmas trees and chandeliers, were bought, the ministry said, “Please be informed that the Christmas decorations for 2021 was rented and not procured for by the GACL.”

The ministry’s response in part said, “GACL rented Christmas decorations for the 2021 Christmas season from two companies to decorate the airport terminals.

“With specific regards to 2021, per the arrangements. The rented Christmas decorations will have to be returned to the owners.

The ministry also contradicted Paul Adom-Otchere’s claim that a sponsor paid for only GHC50,000 of the decoration cost.

With emphasis, the ministry noted that the entire cost of the decorations was paid for by a sponsor, which did not necessitate the trigger of a procurement process.

“For emphasis, we wish to reiterate that the Christmas decorations in question were rented and paid for by a sponsor. Therefore, no contract was awarded by GACL for the purpose,” the ministry said.

While Paul Adom-Otchere five months ago presented his claims as ‘facts’ in response to ‘gross misrepresentations,’ the disclosures by the Transport Ministry make one thing clear, the Christmas trees were beautifully decorated with lies.