By Mama A. Touray
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Hon SeedyKeita, on Saturday, said the public finance act empowers the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to sign any financial agreement on behalf of the government.
Minister Keita made this remark at a press briefing held at GNPC head office in Brusubi during an organised press briefing centered on the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Africa50 (an infrastructural investment platform that contributes to Africa’s growth) on asset recycling to manage and operate the Senegambia bridge for twenty-five years.
Honorable S. Keita told the media that “The public finance act which empowers the Ministry of Finance, gives the Ministry the right and the legal authority to engage and sign on behalf of the government of the Gambia any financing agreement”.
This was his answer to one of the questions raised regarding why the Ministry did not seek approval or ratification from the National Assembly before the agreement.
He said the National Assembly in the process has the legislative and oversight role over the executive and was quick to state that no legal or financial agreement will force them as Ministry of Finance to appear before the National Assembly to say “I’m going to do this transaction, can you allow me before I do it”.
Hon Keita added that “What we have even signed is not even a financial agreement because there is no obligation for the state to pay the process of this directly from the consolidated revenue fund where it will serve as a loan and this loan will be serviced periodically”.
The Hon Minister, however, explained how the hundred million will be paid to investors, “How this hundred million will be paid back to the investors is that the cash flows that will be collected as toll revenues will be used primarily to settle those financial obligations. Any residual profit will go as a dividend distribution which will be shared between the government of the Gambia and Africa50”.
He continued that the special purpose vehicle is not a foreign company and that it’s going to be a Gambian domicile company. “So we are not dealing with a foreign company. All the operations and laws governing this agreement will be the laws of the Gambia as such it will pay taxes on its operation”.
Keita told reporters that the government has entered into a concession agreement and that the concession agreement according to him will cover operation and maintenance, environmental, social, and governance issues, welfare of the infrastructure.
He stated that the existing toll as it happened will be totally redacted, and there will be a better toll system that will be developed to ensure transparency of revenue collection and reporting.
“Government being the center at the table will in any way be aware of what is going on because we will be in the boat but the management and operation will be delegated to Africa50, who are the private sector entity specialized in this,” he said.
He continued in his responses that people quoted the constitution saying this is a violation that the financé minster signs an agreement without the approval from the National Assembly, but according to him, he said
in his short term as Finance Minister, he has signed more than five agreements, and none of those agreements has the National Assembly given him prior approval to sign.
He continued: “You will only go to the NA on two conditions: that there is a future obligation that it is a loan and that the executive has cleared it and submitted it to the NA for ratification and normally in the financial term even your partner will put it as a condition of effectiveness that this condition or financing facility will not come into force without the ratification of the NA,” he explained.