By Mama A Touray
The Director of Compliance at GPPA on Tuesday indicated that GPPA’s approved the procurement of a second-hand Prado Toyota vehicle worth D850, 000, without Basse Area Council contracts committee signing the declaration form.
Mr. Samba Tambura disclosed on Tuesday at the Local Government Commission of Inquiry ongoing at Djembe Hotel, Senegambia.
Meanwhile, the Counsel and other Commissioners noted that the declaration form was attached to the file but was not signed by the members of the Contracts Committee of the Basse Area Council.
Notwithstanding, the witness explained that a declaration form is a key component of any procurement process and it is an essential part of the Conflict of Interest declaration process where each member of the Contracts Committee assessment of whether they have a conflict of interest or not.
The Director of Compliance said the declaration form is necessary and it should be signed. He clarified that the people who discuss the procurement are expected to sign the document to indicate that they are not conflicted.
When asked what the implication is, Mr. Tambura said it is an anomaly.
He went on in his testimony that the declaration form in the file contains only one name – Muhammed Jawneh, but he did not sign, and the Commission also noted that the signature of the Contracts Committee was not sufficient as only two out of the three mandatory signatories signed the document.
“If the declaration is not signed, we highlight it as an anomaly. We did not do that in this case,” Tambura told the commission.
When the Commission noted from the report that the essential areas in the forms attached were not filled, Director Tambura said “They are essential and it is mandatory to fill them”.
Tambura further testified that the Contracts Committee of the Basse Area Council agreed to use Form 003 (single sourcing) but the Basse Area Council used the wrong form.
He told the LGCI that the procurement officer opted for restricted tendering and advised the council to use that method, but the Basse Area Council went for single sourcing. Mr. Tambura agreed with the procurement officer that the best method was restricted tendering.
Despite the contracts committee of the Basse Area Council not signing the declaration form, GPPA wrote to the Basse Area Council approving the procurement of the second-hand Toyota Prado vehicle.
“The abnormalities highlighted are very obvious,” Tambura said while admitting that the procurement should have been thoroughly reviewed before approval is given.
According to the report, one of the key documents missing in the file was the CFAO report. Before the purchase of the vehicle, the Basse Area Council indicated that the vehicle will be sent to CFAO for checkup in a view to know the status of the vehicle.
