By Aminata S Kuyateh
The chief executive officer of Nema-su Enterprise, Almamo Dibba, has denied reports by the Gambia Public Procurement Authority that Mansakonko Area Council bought a bag of rice from him for D6,000.
In July, the Local Government Commission of Inquiry heard from a GPPA report suggesting they discovered such a transaction in 2020 while assessing the compliance state of the council, and that the supplying business was itself not registered with them.
In his testimony before the commission Wednesday, Almamo Dibba said Nemasu Enterprise was registered with the GPPA on the 28th April, 2020, the same day Mansakonko Area Council awarded him contract for the supply of 655 bags of rice (25kg) for D650 per bag amounting to D601,500.
The witness said he came to know about the contract when he saw a Facebook post that Mansakonko Area Council was looking for a supplier in connection with Covid-19 food support.
The deputy lead counsel asked whether he did bid for the contract before registering the company, and the witness replied, “I registered before having the contract”.
The commission noted that in August 2020, there were series of transactions from the council’s account to the Nema-su company account. The transaction was D200,000, D307,000, D35,000 and D4,000.
The deputy lead counsel asked the witness what the transaction was about and he replied that it was for the payment of food items he supplied the council. Chairperson Jainaba Bah asked the witness evidence to present before the commission to support his claim that he supplied the council 655 bags of rice but the witness said he has no evidence, only an invoice and a receipt.
