By; Arret Jatta
The Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI) on Monday heard that Lahaina Kujabi, a construction worker, was awarded a D3M contract at the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) without bidding for it.
“You did not summit any application to actually compete for the contracts. All you sent was an invoice,” lead counsel Patrick Gomez put it to Kujabi.
“Yes,” he responded.
“So as far as the law is concerned, you did not compete with any individual because you did not take part in any form of assessment to see whether you are much more qualified than the rest in relation to been awarded the contract of D3M. That is a fact, correct,” counsel Gomez further put it to Kujabi.
“To me, I was bidding because I had competitors. There were other contractors and we were all looking for the same thing,” he responded.
When asked if he had a bidding document, the witness responded in the negative.
“Do you have a bid document,” Counsel Gomez asked.
“No but for me, I was competing and once I’m competing, I take it as a bid,” he replied.
Mr. Kujabi explained that before he was awarded the contract, he and his team went for a site visit with the planning unit and few other guys.
“When we arrived there, they explained to us what to do. Then, I and my fellow contractors took measurements. Then we went back, each collected their feasibility report, and then we made our invoice and I summited mine. The first job we did was the building of shops. After finishing the shops, we were called again and they wanted to do markets there. For that one too, they gave us a plan and we made our invoice and summited it. I was called that I’m the lucky one and this was how we did it continuously until everything was completed and the job was handed over,” witness Kujabi further explained.
“How much was the value of these contract?” asked the lead counsel.
“Upon completion, I got to know it was over three million dalasi, or around three million dalasi. I don’t know exactly unless I confirm,” he replied.
When asked how he knew about the contract, the witness said he was called by the head of planning department Nyima Camara.
“So, these contracts were not advertised? You didn’t see them on any newspaper or any media outlet,” counsel Gomez asked.
“No, I didn’t,” responded Kujabi.
