REPUBLIC vs. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SPORTS, THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT BOARD AND THE GETFUND BOARD EX-PARTE: GHANA BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION

The Ghana Book Publishers Association challenged the Ministry of Education and Sports' decision to single source the procurement of supplementary readers, textbooks, and dictionaries for basic and senior secondary schools and teacher training colleges from Macmillan Education Limited (MEL) at a contract value of approximately US$28 million. The Ministry had signed a contract with MEL before obtaining approval from the Public Procurement Board (PPB), which was later granted after the contract was annulled. The applicant contended that the single source procurement violated the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), and that the PPB erred in approving the procurement without proper adherence to statutory procedures. The GETFund Board, responsible for financing, was also named as a respondent but took a passive role.

In order 55 r.1 of C.I.47, it is provided that an application for (a) An order in nature of mandamus, prohibition, certiorari or quo warranto; or (b) An injunction restraining a person from acting in any public office in which the person is not entitled to act; or (c) Any other injunction shall be made by way of an application for judicial review to the High Court. In r.2(1) of Order 55, the orders the Court can make on the hearing of an application for Judicial review are an order for prohibition, certiorari or mandamus, an order restraining a person from acting in any public office in which that person is not entitled to act, any other injunction, a declaration and payment of damages. And before making any of the above order(s) the matters or factors the Court must take into consideration are provided in r.2(2) of the very Order 55. So in this suit, the plaintiff/appellant seeks the following reliefs: (i) A declaration that the decision of the Ministry of the Education and Sp...