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Tag: CEO Adar Poonawalla

  • Fresh criminal charges leveled against Former PPA CEO

    Fresh criminal charges leveled against Former PPA CEO

    The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has filed fresh criminal charges against the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei.

    Adjei now faces eight new counts linked to the misuse of his public office for personal gain and manipulating procurement processes to gain an unfair advantage in contract awards.

    These charges were brought forth by the Special Prosecutor at the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra on April 17.

    These new accusations add to the previous charges Adjei was confronting, which consisted of seventeen counts. Among these, he was accused of establishing Talent Discovery Limited (TDL) as a guise to unlawfully secure public contracts.

    The latest charges comprise eight counts of leveraging public office for personal profit and nine counts of influencing procurement processes, both directly and indirectly, to secure an unfair advantage in contract awards.

    Furthermore, Adjei’s brother-in-law, Francis Kwaku Arhin, who allegedly acted as the CEO of TDL and holds a minority stake, faces one count of exploiting public office for personal gain.

    Adjei had served as the CEO of PPA from March 2017 to August 2019. His dismissal from the position came after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo acted upon a recommendation from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), which was prompted by his involvement in a documentary titled “Contract for Sale.”

  • India’s vaccine manufacturer destroys 100 million doses of expired Covid vaccine

    Serum Institute of India (SII), an Indian vaccine manufacturer, stated it had to dispose of 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine after they expired.

    According to CEO Adar Poonawalla, the company ceased making Covishield in December of last year due to low demand.

    SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has been producing the local version of AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria jab.suit for several years.

    Covishield accounts for over 90% of the doses given in India.

    India has administered over two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. More than 70% of the Indian population has taken at least two doses, according to the federal health ministry.

    In January 2022, India began giving boosters to healthcare and frontline workers, and those above 60 years with comorbidities. It was later expanded to all adults.

    In July, free booster doses – or precaution doses as the government calls them – were provided to all adults for 75 days to mark 75 years of India’s independence.

    But so far, India has administered just 298 million booster doses, according to the health ministry.

    “The booster vaccines have no demand as people now seem fed up with Covid,” Mr Poonawala told reporters on Thursday. “Honestly, I’m also fed up. We all are.”

    According to Mr Poonawala, the SII had around 100 million doses of Covishield in stock. The vaccines – which have a shelf life of nine months – expired in September this year.

    The CEO was speaking on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) in the western Indian city of Pune.

    “Going forward, when people take a flu shot every year, they may take a Covid vaccine along with it,” Mr Poonawala said. “But in India, there is no culture of taking a flu shot every year, like in the West.”

    Meanwhile, Mr Poonawala said the SII had completed trials for the Covid vaccine Covovax as a booster dose. The company expects the vaccine to get approval within the next two weeks.

    It has also partnered with the US biotech company Novavax for an Omicron-specific booster, he said.