By Baba Sillah
Augustus Prom Consultancy firm has finally taken over the Daily Observer Company, an investigation conducted by The Standard revealed.
The accounting firm was appointed by the state as the overseer of the assets of the former President Yahya Jammeh frozen by the state including the Daily Observer.
On Friday the firm visited the company and had separate close-door meetings with the senior management and the staff during which the firm informed them about the new development.
Pa Momodou Mbowe, the managing director dismissed a recent description of his management as incompetent by the protesting staff. “What incompetence are they talking about in our negotiations with the GRA? We have tried our best in order to resolve the problem so as to come to terms but the condition and the payment plan suggested by GRA is not realistic,” Mr Mbowe told The Standard on Friday.
According to him, the payment plan suggested by the GRA was D500, 000 every month, which he said the company cannot afford to pay. He however noted that negotiation is still ongoing and that is why they invited other stakeholders in order to arrive at a solution.
Mr Mbowe said there has been improvement in the six months he took over the company as manager.
“We have only six months since we took over the company so we need time to fix the problem because we have inherited huge debts including the D17million owed to the GRA which requires time to fix. When we came in, we promoted some of the staff, increased their salaries with credit allowance. So if we have no regard for their welfare we would have not done all these,” Mr Mbowe added.