Witnesses have told the Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI) that the Kerewan Area Council has not been compliant.

The evaluation committee's function includes assessing and examining the suitability of goods and services, deciding on the option that best offers value for money and recommending the awarding of contracts to suppliers.

The director general of the Gambia Public Procurement Authority and the director of Procurement Policy and Operations, Phoday Jaiteh and Ebrima Sanyang respectively, who jointly appeared before the Commission on Tuesday, both described the Kerewan Area Council as non-compliant.

Also, they disclosed that the Kerewan Area Council failed to establish a receipt and examination committee to perform its functions as required by law.

The witnesses indicated that the CEO of Kerewan Area Council did not monitor the entire procurement process as required by law, and that the CEO also failed to formalise the contracts committee.

Moreover, the GPPA officials indicated that although it is a legal requirement that suppliers must be registered with the GPPA as a condition for eligibility for receiving contracts from area councils, the Kerewan Area Council was contracting or awarding contracts to suppliers that were not registered with the GPPA.

On record keeping, the officials told the commissioners that their review teams discovered that some vital documents were missing.