By Mama A. Touray
Basse Area Council awarded contracts to non-registered suppliers to the tune of three hundred and thirteen thousand and sixty dalasi.
This was disclosed on Wednesday at the ongoing LGCI held at Djembe Hotel, Senegambia by the Director of Procurement Policy and Operations at Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA).
Ebrima Sanyang while discussing the 2021 compliance report of Basse Area Council said “The Basse Area Council awarded contracts to suppliers that did not register with GPPA, contract amounting to Three Hundred and Thirteen and Sixty Dalasi (D313, 060). One of the suppliers who did not register with GPPA but received contracts from Basse Area Council was Foday Danjo, who received Eighteen Thousand Dalasi (D18, 000) for catering”.
He said this practice of the Basse Area Council contravened the provisions of the Gambia Public Procurement Authority Act and Regulations. “Contracts awarded to non-registered suppliers like Muhammed Mamud for the supply of detergent for Fifty Thousand Dalasi, Shiloh Enterprise for office equipment amounting to One Hundred and Thirteen Thousand Dalasi, and Muhammed H. Jallow for borehole materials amounting to Seventy-Nine Two Hundred and Sixty Dalasi”.
He explained that awarding contracts to non-registered suppliers with GPPA is interpreted as a probable failure to pay tax since GRA Tax Clearance is a condition for GPPA registration.
More so, the Gambia Public Procurement Authority ensures that the suppliers are registered with the authority and that the conduct of Basse Area Council is a potential loss of revenue to the government, in particular the Authority., he added.
Mr. Sanyang stated that Section 24 of the GPPA Act requires all suppliers to register with GPPA emphasizing that it is illegal to do business with a supplier that is not registered. Adding that GPPA called on Basse Area Council to ensure that all contracts awarded to suppliers should register with GPPA.
He quickly informed the commission that “There could be biases in the identification of prospective suppliers and eligible suppliers may always be excluded in the procurement process, which compromises the objective of the GPPA Act. And it is mandatory for Basse Area Council to do prequalification of suppliers as required by section 23 of the GPPA Act to assist in arriving at the list of registered or approved suppliers from whom to solicit quotations”.
Further to that, he said Basse Area Council failed to establish Inspection and acceptance committees and that the area council does not do a review of supplier performance to inform future improvements of the suppliers on completion of their deliveries as required by the regulations.
He noted that there is evidence of contract management team in place at the Basse Area Council but no contract documents in place especially for the procurement of fuel.
On the implications, Sanyang said the contracts may not be performed by all the terms and conditions of the contract, and relevant information regarding the contract could be missing. Saying a weak contract administration is an invitation to corrupt practices, adding that measurement and control of performance could be hindered thus giving room for more risks and deviation from the original contract.
Their recommendation to Basse Area Council was to enhance the management and administration of procurement contracts as provided for in the Act and Regulations.
