By: Alieu Ceesay
Fatoumata Saho Cham, the former Procurement Manager of the Kanifing Municipal Council, appeared before the local government Commission of Inquiry to provide her Account of the procurement process for the maintenance of Bulldozer D9 and D8.
The two bulldozers, once instrumental tools for KMC clearing the Bakoteh dumpsite, have undergone major maintenance, which has cost the council over a million dalasi.
Cham states that she turned down the initial demand from Kanyi, who she said wrote a request for the Maintenance of Bulldozers. She further told the commission that the issue had reached out to Sheriff Nji, the then-acting finance director, who equally instructed her to approve the procurement.
“I told him I could not participate in such a procurement. We had a bitter argument over the issue, so he told me it was left to me to do it or not. I told him I was not going to do it. I headed it over to my assistant and heard that I should accompany Mustapha Kanyi to Dakar. I said to myself, “No.” After a while, I learned that my trip had been canceled. I realized that my assistant had done the paperwork,” she told the commission, probing local government authorities.
Meanwhile, Sarata Jaiteh, once an assistant to Fatoumatta Saho Cham, also appeared to give her Account of the procurement activities, which she affirmed involved.
“I am assigned to do the necessary paperwork, which was my involvement. We returned with the papers to the multipurpose center, where our office was, and I did the paperwork.”
She sometimes added that KMC needs to follow the proper procurement process when purchasing certain materials.
Both Sarata and Fatoumata accused Sheriff Njie and Jaja Cham of responsibility for purchasing these materials without adhering to proper procurement procedures.
