Following Open Gambia’s previous revelations on NAWEC MD Mr Gallo Saidy and the president’s Chief of Staff Mr Modou Ceesay, in their conspiracy TO RIG the bidding process for purchasing 21 Vehicles (for GMD 73 900 000.00) in favour of their preferred bidder (Saibo Manneh of GamGo company) for a kickback, without seeking approval from the Gambia Public Procurement Authority.
Open Gambia has received an update on the ongoing deal from an insider at the statehouse.
The insider, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that the Chief of Staff and newly appointed presidential Affairs Minister at the president’s office, Mod K Ceesay, is facilitating NAWEC’s plans to pay an extra GMD 900,000 as a price adjustment to the previous twenty-one (21) vehicles ordered from Gamgo company, including an additional five (5) vehicles awarded to them, for a total of Twenty-Six (26) vehicles.
The State House insider lamented that Gamgo Company has only supplied Ten (10) vehicles out of 26 cars before presenting a request for a price adjustment of GMD 900,000 on each vehicle, and they want full payment. The request went to the Corporate Director, Sanna Touray, who assumed office two months ago. The Corporate Director, Sanna Touray, refused to act on this illegal order from MD Gallo Saidy. The MD and the Financial Director, Mr Cham, work with Gamgo Company using the influence of Mod Ceesay, Minister at State House. This NAWEC deal of inflating purchase orders is reminiscent of the reported scandal on telephone audio-recorded messages involving the Financial Director, Mr Omar Cham and the head of Treasury, Baboucarr Secka, pressuring a NAWEC cable supplier.
The State House insider reminded us that the contracted amount with duty was GMD73 million for the 21 vehicles and GMD17 million for the additional five vehicles. Now, they offer a price adjustment of GMD900,000 for each car, amounting to GMD23,400,000. When added together, the total Gamgo Company request is GMD113 million, more than what CFAO Gâmbia and JD Europe have offered by more than GMD15 million. Considering MD Saidy’s statement, the reason for awarding the initial 21-vehicle contract to Gamgo Company was the lower price offered.
The State House insider questioned how MD Saidy was saving money. They said, “Trust me. According to my source, the man was there to make quick money to save his bankrupt company.” Gamgo Company promised to pay GMD10 million as a kickback to CoS & Presidential Affairs Minister Mod Ceesay, MD Gallo Saidy, and Financial Director Cherno Omar Cham.
During our investigations, a former NAWEC employer we contacted told Open Gambia that it’s a common fraudulent practice for NAWEC Management to apply in collusion with suppliers by lowering the bid price to win the contract and later adjusting the price after securing the contract with the addition sum payout as a kickback.
The NAWEC Board of Directors must invite the National Audit Office to conduct a forensic audit of the NAWEC financial MANAGEMENT system. The SOE Commission, too, has to intervene promptly to protect what’s left of the company.
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PLEASE READ THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE PUBLISHED END OF SEPTEMBER FOR MORE BACKGROUND CONTEXT OF THE DEAL.
NAWEC Managing Director Gallo Saidy disregarded the contract committee recommendations for procuring 21 operational vehicles!
Open Gambia Platform has received the bid evaluation report for the procurement of 21 vehicles after last week’s scheduled publication of allegations that NAWEC MD Saidy and then president’s chief of Staff, MOD Ceesay, corruptly awarded the contract to GAMGO, a company owned by Saibo Manneh.
The bid document is introduced as:
As part of her efforts, the National Water and Electricity Company Limited (NAWEC) budgeted funds for procuring Twenty-One (21) Operational Vehicles, as detailed in this report.
The tender was launched on 15th February 2024 using the International Competitive Bidding method (ICB). The invitation to bid was published on domestic media, GM Tenders, and the NAWEC Website.
The comprehensive report was based on a ten-person procurement committee evaluation report submitted to the office of the managing director of NAWEC for approval and endorsement.
The report provided evidence that MD Saidy disregarded the recommendations made by the procurement committee to corruptly award the contract to GAMGO company without giving any justification for taking the unconventional action. This proves the allegations levied against him.
BID EVALUATION!
The evaluation method used for this tender is Compliance Selection. Under this method, bids were evaluated regarding their technical compliance and the financial (Lowest Price) aspect. Evaluators scored each criterion based on the degree of compliance with the requirements in the bidding document.
It is important to note that Bids that did not meet the eligibility criteria were considered non-responsive and not subjected to the detailed technical evaluation.
Evaluation Committee
The Evaluation Committee, comprised of the following officials, reviewed the bids received.
• Mr Momodou Manneh- Legal Compliance Officer, NAWEC
• Mr. Famara Kinteh– Procurement Manager, NAWEC
• Mr. Ismaila Seckan- Procurement Assistant, NAWEC
• Mr. Lamin Janneh – Procurement Assistant, NAWEC
• Mr. Ousman F. Mboob, Procurement Supervisor, NAWEC
• Mr. Ousainou Ndire – Senior Mechanical Engineer, NAWEC.
• Mr. Joseph Gomez – Mechanical Engineer, NAWEC
• Mr. Musa Sowe – Internal Audit Technician, NAWEC
• Mr. Lamin Y. Camara – Senior Manager Facilities, Transportation and Security
• Mr. Momodou S. Fatty – Senior Manager Financial Accounting and Reporting, NAWEC
1. Preliminary Evaluation
The committee started by preliminary examining the bids using the eligibility criteria set in the bid document to ensure that all bids met the eligibility criteria and were not incomplete, invalid, or substantially non-responsive to the bidding document. Table 8 below highlights the details of the preliminary evaluation.
The preliminary evaluation above indicates that all the firms except Asata Investment met the administrative criteria set in the bidding document. Asata Investment is, therefore, disqualified from further detailed evaluation.
Based on the analysis of tables 9-13 (detailed technical evaluation), only CFAO Motors and JD Europe met the detailed technical criteria. It is important to note that all the Firms had deviations in their submission. However, by ITB 29.4 of the bid document, the evaluation committee identified significant or minor deviations. Clarifications were also made to bidders, as attached in the annexes.
After meticulously reviewing all the submissions, the committee recommended CFAO and JD Europe for financial evaluation. Interestingly, the evaluation committee did not recommend Gamgo, and the company was finally awarded the contract.
3. FINANCIAL EVALUATION
Table 13: Corrected Bid Prices
No. Read-Out Bid Prices Corrected Total Bid Prices Ranking:
1 CFAO MOTORS Euro 103,730.00 2
2 JD EUROPE Euro 1,113,000 .00 1
RECOMMENDATION
After thoroughly evaluating all the bids received, the evaluation committee unanimously agreed to award the contract for the Supply of 21 Operational Vehicles to JD Europe at their total bid price of Euro 1,113,000.00.
How can MD Saidy justify awarding the contract to GAMGO when the evaluation committee’s final recommendation is to recommend JD Europe? Please see the attached screenshot of evidence of the evaluation committee report.
