Gambia: 'Councillors Procured Items Without Involving Procurement Officers'

21 August 2023
The Point (Banjul)
By Ali Jaw

Gambia Public Procurement Authority officials has acknowledged before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry that the councillors at the Janjangbureh Area Council conducted procurement without involving procurement officers.

Phoday Jaiteh and Ebrima Sayang, the former being the GPPA Director General and the latter also being a top GPPA staff heading one of the departments, jointly appeared before the Commission recently.

The GPPA compliance review report for 2020 outlines that councillors conducted procurements within their wards without presenting procurement items, such as receipts, invoices, among others.

Also, it states that ward councillors handled procurement within their wards, without the involvement of the procurement officer, which contravenes sections 50 and 51 of the GPPA (Amendment) 2018.

Both GPPA officials said that these acts by councilors violated provisions of the GPPA Act, as well as other regulations.

DG Jaiteh described it as either "negligence" or "corruption", while Mr Sanyang labelled it as "ignorance of the law" or negligence".

"This is another form of corrupt practices," Deputy Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez said.

Again, it was observed that the procurement unit had only one staff who was Mariatou Kandeh, a procurement clerk.

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