Africa-Press – Gambia. The Local Government Commission of Inquiry has revealed that the Banjul City Council (BCC) purchased 60 waste bins at a cost of D10,000 each in 2021—totaling D600,000—but received only 17 of them.
The revelation came during Wednesday’s proceedings as Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez questioned Mustapha Batchily, the former chief executive officer of BCC, about the procurement.
According to Counsel Gomez, the council awarded the contract to Demba’s Trading and paid the full amount upfront. Batchily confirmed the purchase and admitted that the procurement process lacked basic due diligence, including a market survey to determine fair pricing.
When questioned about the council’s decision to pay D10,000 per bin without confirming the market rate, Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asked, “So why will you pay D10,000 for one bin when you don’t know the market price?”
In response, Batchily said the procurement was initiated by the then-deputy mayor and claimed he was not actively involved in the process at the time.
Counsel Gomez pressed. “So you committed Six Hundred Thousand dalasis, you got 17 bins instead of 60 at a price of D10,000 each, and it was ok because it is the deputy mayor that was involved.”
Batchily stated that if the procurement had been brought to his attention at an earlier stage, the outcome might have been different. When Counsel Gomez questioned why he authorized payment despite knowing that proper procedures had not been followed, Batchily explained that his concern was diminished because the deputy mayor was involved in the process.
Regarding whether the mayor was aware of the procurement, Batchily said the mayor indicated that she knew the bins were being produced, which compelled him to proceed with the payment. Stating, “so subsequently I have to pay.”
Batchily stated that he contacted the contractor, who claimed to have delivered all 60 bins to the council.
However, Batchily informed him that his colleagues on the ground reported only 17 bins had been received. “I told him that is not what my colleagues are telling me on the ground, that they said you supply only the 17 bins,” he said.
He stated that it was the Director of Planning who informed him that only 17 bins had been delivered to the council, a claim they later verified together through a physical inspection.
Counsel Patrick Gomez then questioned whether anyone had personally profited from the transaction, noting that with the remaining bins unaccounted for, there was a shortfall of D430,000. Batchily denied receiving any personal benefit from the funds.
“As CEO, sadly, the law requires that you must be the custodian of the accounts and the finance director. So if these things happen, you should be responsible, and the money must be recovered,” Counsel Gomez told the witness.
Counsel Gomez told Batchily that, as CEO, he authorized the full payment of six hundred thousand dalasis without conducting any verification, “no contract document, no market survey, and no procurement process.”
Furthermore, Gomez said, “We are going by your overpricing because certainly it is way overpriced, and you cannot even do any procurement without a market survey in the first place.”
He further pointed out that, based on the overpriced invoice and the undelivered bins, a total of four hundred and thirty thousand dalasis remains unaccounted for and must be recovered.
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