By: Momodou Justice Darboe
Gambian Oil and Gas Company Jah Oil, has been denied the contract for the supply of foodstuff to Mansakonko Area Council despite its comparative advantage, the Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI) heard on Thursday.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the former director of finance at Mansakonko Area Council Bai GibbiSallah was tasked to engage the Jah Oil Company for the supply of the consumables due to the company’s competitiveness but he failed to do so only for the contract to be awarded to Nema-Su Enterprise, the commission heard.
In last Thursday’s hearing, the LGCI deputy lead counsel Patrick Gomez referred Mr. Sallah to the earlier testimony of the former CEO of Mansakonko Area Council Pa Sait Ceesay that the council’s contract committee has agreed to award the oil, rice, and sugar contract to Jah Oil since it offered the best price but former finance director Sallah dismissed Ceesay’s testimony only to admit it later when confronted with the minutes of the contracts committee’s meeting over the issue. He added that he [Sallah] was the one who recommended that Jah Oil be awarded the contract. However, according to the former CEO Ceesay, Sallah failed to report back to the committee, and the contract was subsequently awarded to Nema-Su Enterprise.
“Do not try to mislead the commission,” the deputy lead counsel told Sallah.
According to Mr. Sallah, at the time of awarding the contract, Nema-Su lacked the GPPA certificate to be awarded public contracts, adding that it was only after the award of the contract that the enterprise registered with the GPPA. He pointed out that the statement of Nema-Su’s CEO Almamo Dibba that the business had a GPPA certificate before being awarded the contract was false.
“We awarded the contract to him and the procurement officer encouraged him to obtain the GPPA registration before we could pay him,” Sallah explained to the commission.
He told the commission that D1, 143,500 was paid to Nema-Su Enterprise for the supply of rice, oil, and sugar to MansakonkoArea Council. He, however, exclaimed and swore that the payment, made in two installments, was not made by him.
“These were not payments that I signed. The three signatories to the COVID-19 account were I, the CEO, and the Chairman. I am not aware of those payments. This is my first time, seeing this [invoice]. I am surprised,” Sallah said. He added that any of the two other signatories can sign for withdrawals, saying he did not sign for payments of up to D1M to Almamo Dibba.
In response to a query by Commissioner Oremie E. Joiner, Sallah admitted his failure to conduct monthly bank reconciliation.
“When you came to the Mansakonko Area Council, you scrapped the monthly bank reconciliation,” Commissioner Joiner put it to Sallah.
“Yes,” Sallah agreed.
Sallah testified that Almamo Dibba was well-known in the council, adding that he, the CEO, and the Chairman all knew him.
He pointed out that there was no open tender before the contract was awarded to Dibba.
Sallah said the contract was not subjected to public tender because he thought the funds were meant to help the people.
“This was not your personal or family funds. It was public funds. You have to account for it and this is why the laws provide you the procedure to follow,” Deputy Lead Counsel Gomez told Sallah.
“Yes,” concurred Sallah, admitting that what the council did was in contravention of the laws.