By Mama A. Touray
Director of Procurement Policy and Operations at Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA), Ebrima Sanyang has revealed at the ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI)that violations of procurement laws in Mansakonko Area Council are not a mistake but intentional.
Testifying before the commission on his fourth appearance, he stated that “the violations of the laws governing procurement by Mansakonko area council are intentional not (by)mistakes.”
Mr. Sanyang said the 2019, 2020, and 2021 procurement compliance reports of the Mansakonko Area Council revealed some serious violations of procurement rules by the council.
The violations according to him, Mansakonko Area Council flouted the established procurement rules and engaged in deals that were susceptible to corruption and fraud.
“In procurement, the laws require the establishment of a contracts committee by the Area Council and the appointment of the members. The Committee is responsible for approving contracts and the contracts methods. The other committees the laws require include inspection committee” he highlighted to the commission.
Also, procurement rules require the area councils to provide delivery and evaluation reports and the law also prohibitstrading with suppliers that do not register with Gambia Public Procurement Authority.
He informed the commission that the area council is also required to file monthly reports to Gambia Public Procurement Authority and the area council is also required to show the minutes of contracts committee meetings.
He further informed the commission that procurement units of area councils are supposed to be under the Office of the Chief Executive Officer and not the Finance Department. Adding that Mansakonko Area Council failed to follow the rules as stated in the compliance reports of 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Also, he said, the council failed to observe certain rules regarding single sourcing of procurements and some instances they do not observe the threshold of single sourcing.
Director Sanyang, However, testified that in 2019, there were four hundred and ninety-five (495) transactions of single sourcing amounting to Two Million Two Hundred and Eighty Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Six Dalasi Sixty-Four Bututs (D2, 280,996.64). And ten (10) transactions of Request for Quotation amounting to Four Hundred and Eighty-Six Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty Dalasi (D486, 850).
While in 2020, he explained, there were 446 single sourcing transactions amounting to Twenty-Five Million Nine Hundred and Fifty-Nine and One Dalasi Sixty-Two Bututs (D25, 959,001.62). And 22 transactions were done through Request for Quotation amounting to Four Million Nine Hundred and Sixty-One Thousand One Hundred and Fifty-Five Dalasi (D4, 961,155).
And in 2021, he said there were 436 transactions of single sourcing amounting to One Million Four Hundred and Sixty-Nine Eight Hundred Dalasi Twenty-Three (D1,469,800.23). andthat there were 4 transactions of Request for Quotation amounting to One Hundred and Sixty-Two and Twenty Dalasi (D162,020).