“The
issue of Semlex is still complicated...,” Journalist Sanna Camara of The Point
put to Justice Minister Ba Tambadou, after delivering a statement on
Semlex-Pristine ID Card contract issue. “I did hold a different view at the
time with my counterpart at the Ministry of Interior,” Tambadou said.
We
hereunder reproduce the deliberations of the Question and Answer session
relating to the topic.
Sanna:
The former Minister of Interior Mai Fatty had said that Gambia might be sued
for up to $100Million for loss of revenue by Semlex…which was disputed in many
quarters. At the time, I guess one of the members of Cabinet who were opposed
to the Interior Minister’s position was you?
Now
we are seeing a different turn around. You shared with us, several reasons that
warranted this – that is respected, if it has legal bases. Now I will like to
know if this latest twist is influenced by:
(1) unconfirmed reports of alleged bribery
of government officials?
(2) with all the reports about Semlex’s
involvement in scandals around the world, what does it tell about the
government if it is trying to engage the same company that is allegedly accused
of giving bribes for contracts in other countries?
Minister
Tambadou: Thank you Sanna. I will take your questions one after the other:
$100Million
lawsuit by Semlex
“On
the claim by the former minster that government faced a legal liability of a
$100Million – there is no specific amount stated in the contract between the
government and Semlex. It only makes reference to ‘costs and potential loss of
profits in the event there is bridge’.
It
is on the basis of that provision in the contract that Semlex had written to
the government, stating that the legal liability for the government may amount
up to $100Million. So, this is Semlex’s claim. It is not necessarily the
accurate amount. At this point, we do not know how much it may be, but as far
as the records are concerned, that was the claim from Semlex.
“I
was not …. I did hold a different view at the time with my counterpart at the
Ministry of Interior. What I was focusing on was the fact that we need to take
our time to review the matter and not to jump to conclusions. Because both
Pristine and Semlex at the time were claiming… as I said, Pristine claims the
contract they signed with the Ministry of Health was an extension of their
earlier contract; Semlex was claiming they have a subsisting contract.
“These
are legal matters and you don’t rush to conclusions on legal matters. My
position all long was to ensure that we arrive at a conclusion that we believe
we can justify. But furthermore, as I said, we also wanted to provide Pristine
as Gambian-owned company an opportunity to compete… that is why we suggested,
for strategic legal reasons… (I can’t go further than that, that’s the best I
can say under the circumstances) to open a restricted bidding process so that
when Pristine and Semlex submit their bids, government can have greater
latitude to take a decision without adverse legal consequences. That didn’t
happen.
Bribery
of government officials
“On
questions of bribery of government officials, I keep saying, make sure that
when you make allegations like that against government officials, please bring
proof. You don’t make…. People have worked hard over the years to establish
their reputations and integrity. Let’s not just throw words out there that may
potentially damage people’s reputations without proof. It is unfair.
“It
is the reason why in some jurisdictions, libel is criminalized. It is in this
country but you can imagine the reasons that will inform such a decision by
government. Of course, we do not entertain… ah, ah, ahmm… that route. But
please when you making allegations, make sure you have proof.
“Even
when it is stated out there, I am not sure you should even ask a question like
that because what do you expect me to say, ‘yes, it is true?’ (laughter).
Controversies
surrounding Semlex
“On
the controversies regarding Semlex, the government is of course concerned about
those controversies – particularly their activities in Africa. And that is why
as a precautionary measure, we have reached out to the Belgian authorities to
request from them to share with us information about their investigations into
the activities of Semlex…
“Having
said that, let me point out a few things:
1.
whatever activities Semlex is accused of elsewhere, we have to consider whether
the termination of the contract in this country was as a result of those
activities. As far as we are concerned, as far as the records are concerned,
there is no link between Semlex activities outside and the position the
previous government took to terminate their contract. So that’s one matter we
have to consider: what has informed the termination of the contract.
2.
Semlex is just under investigations; we do not know what the conclusions will
be about those investigations. So, we can’t take any action at this point in
time based on an investigation that is ongoing.
3.
There are also some other legal implications. Semlex Gambia has its own
separate legal personality as a legal entity registered in The Gambia. We also
need to assess the impact, if any, that the parent company has on a subsidiary
company which has a separate legal entity.
So,
there are all sorts of issues here. And we need to be careful as I said, not to
rush to judgment on some of these issues because they tend to have legal
consequences for us as a government.
Tambadou:
Did I leave any of your questions out?
Sanna:
No. you have answered them all.