(hhhh)Has made and shall make its own enquiries to satisfy itself as to the accuracy and adequacy of any information supplied to it by or on behalf of the Public Body;
(iiii)Has raised all relevant due diligence questions with the Public Body before the Effective Date; and
(jjjj)Has entered into this Contract in reliance on its own due diligence alone.
The Contractor acknowledges that it has inspected the Site Environment and has advised the Public Body of any aspect of the Site Environment that is not suitable for carrying out the Works and that the specified actions to remedy the unsuitable aspects of the Site Environment, together with a timetable for and the costs of those actions, have been specified in the relevant parts of the Contract for the Pre-Operational Phase.
If the Contractor has either failed to inspect the Site Environment or failed to notify the Public Body of any required remedial actions in accordance with Clause 4.2 then the Contractor shall not be entitled to recover any additional costs or charges from the Public Body relating to any unsuitable aspects of the Site Environment nor shall the Contractor be entitled to seek relief in respect of any Default arising from such failure.
Any disputes relating to due diligence shall be resolved in accordance with the Ethiopian Law.
Fraud and Corruption
It is the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s policy to require that Public Body, as well as bidders/suppliers, to observe the highest standards of ethics during the procurement and the execution of contracts. In pursuance of this policy, the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia represented by the Public Procurement and Property Administration Agency (herein referred to as the Agency) requires that Public Bodies shall include in bidding documents, provisions against corrupt practices.
If the Public Body determines that the Contractor and/or its Personnel, sub-contractors, services providers and suppliers has engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive, or obstructive practices, in competing for or in executing the Contract, then the Public Body may, after giving 14 days notice to the Contractor, terminate the Contractor's employment under the Contract, and the provisions of GCC Clause 21 shall apply as if such expulsion had been made under GCC Sub-Clause 21.2(i).
The Agency defines, for the purposes of these provisions, the terms set forth below as follows:
(kkkk)“Corrupt practice” is the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting, directly or indirectly, of any thing of value to influence the action of a public official in the procurement process or in contract execution, and
(llll)“Fraudulent practice” is any act or omission, including misrepresentation that knowingly or recklessly misleads, or attempts to mislead, a party to obtain financial or other benefit or to avoid an obligation.
(mmmm)“Collusive practices" is a scheme or arrangement between two or more Contractors, with or without the knowledge of the Public Body, designed to establish prices at artificial, non competitive levels, and
(nnnn)“Coercive practices” is harming or threatening to harm, directly or indirectly, persons or their property to influence their participation in a procurement process, or affect the execution of a contract.
(oooo)"Obstructive practice" is
(i)deliberately destroying, falsifying, altering or concealing of evidence material to the investigation or making false statements to investigators in order to materially impede the Federal Ethics and Anticorruption Commission, the Federal Auditor General and the Public Procurement and Property Administration Agency or their auditors' investigation into allegations of a corrupt, fraudulent, coercive or collusive practice; and/or threatening, harassing or intimidating any party to prevent their from disclosing their knowledge of matters relevant to the investigation or from pursuing the investigation, or
(pppp)acts intended to materially impede the exercise of inspection and audit rights provided for under GCC Sub-clause 56.2.
The Agency will debar a Contractor from participation in public procurement for a specified period of time if it at any time determines that the Contractor has engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive or obstructive practices in competing for, or in executing, a contract.
The Agency reserves the right, where a Contractor has been found by a national or international entity to have engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practice, to declare that such a Contractor is ineligible, for a stated period of time, to be awarded a Government funded contract.
The Agency will have the right to require that, in contracts funded by the Government of Ethiopia, a provision be included requiring Contractors to permit the Agency to inspect their accounts and records relating to the performance of the contract and to have them audited by auditors appointed by the Agency, if the Contractor engages in any corrupt practice.
Any communications between the Contractor and the Public Body or the Agency related to matters of alleged fraud or corruption must be made in writing.
