By Arret Jatta
The chairperson of Kuntaur Area Council, Saikou Jawara, testified at the Local Government Commission of Inquiry yesterday on procurement processes at the council.
One particular transaction Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez was interested in, was a contract awarded to one Ousman Joof.
Asked about his personal relationship with Ousman Joof, the witness said Joof was contracted by council to dig a borehole and in the process of drilling that borehole, he told him his need for accommodation which he provided.
Lead Counsel Gomez confronted Chairman Jawara on the allegations by the contractor that the D299K contract could not be completed because he, Chairman Jawara, had borrowed part of the money.
In response, Chairman Jawara said he provided a lot of help to the contractor by putting him up in his house and even lent him a lot of money. “So the money Mr Joof claimed he loaned me was actually payment for what he owed me,” Chairman Jawara said.
Counsel Gomez then asked Jawara whether he was the one personally doing the payment for the contract since the contractor had said he received cheques for the work from him.
Jawara responded: “No sir. How can I do the payment? Giving him the checks and making the payment is different. Additionally, the contractor is still owing me D90,000.”
The counsel questioned Jawara about the appropriateness of lending money to contractors, and Chairman Jawara explained that he was helping Joof out of generosity.
Counsel Gomez told Chairman Jawara that Joof was paid by the council to execute a contract and using that money for personal loans would affect the project’s completion.
“How do you expect him to execute the contract requirements and obligations if you pay him money that is not your money and now demand him to pay you from that money,” Counsel Gomez asked.
The witness insisted that the money Mr Joof gave him was payment for the money he loaned him earlier.
“The issue here is Mr Joof is a contractor, who was paid money that does not belong to you but Kuntaur Area Council, which means it is the community’s money,” the lead counsel told Chairman Jawara.
“I never knew that. If I knew I would not even borrowed him money,” Jawara replied.
Lead Counsel Gomez then put it to Chairman Jawara that the very act of taking money from someone who is supposed to do work and services by way of procurement, can be classified as bribery.
