Ebrima L.S. Marenah, testified yesterday before the Local Government Commission, where he said that he was the only shareholder of Alkamba Stores. According to him, the Alkamba Stores has been operating since 2012, primarily in Basse.
His written statement, dated 11th of August 2023, was admitted into evidence and was marked as an exhibit.
The witness also gave a brief background of his experience as a contractor. He said he did a contract with Gamworks in 2015 which entailed the fencing of some vegetable gardens and construction of some classroom blocks.
He said the contract resulted from a tender he won.
“It was two [contracts]. One was the classroom blocks and offices for Tabanani in Central River Region. Another one was fencing of a banana plantation at Julangel,” he clarified.
The witness also stated that he did two contracts for the Gambia Police Credit Union in 2020 and 2022 respectively. “The 2020 was their regional office in Basse, and 2022 was their regional office in Janjangbureh,” he explained.
“Do you have, individually, experience in construction?” Deputy Lead Counsel Gomez asked.
The witness in his response stated that he was not well experienced in construction. He explained that he is simply a businessman and has seen that he has the potential to do it [venture into the business of construction. He also added that he has “people who are trained to do it.”
As put to him by Counsel Gomez, the witness affirmed having been awarded a contract by the Basse Area Counsel (BsCA) in 2022: “The nature of the award was to rehabilitate the old market. You know there are two markets in Basse. There is one just by the riverside, and to rehabilitate that one, I was called. I was invited to participate in the tender.”
“Who called you?” the deputy lead counsel asked.
The witness responded that it was one Yaya Ceesay, whom he believed to be the development officer at the Basse Area Council, who called him.
“So Yaya called you to notify you of the bidding process concerning this particular contract,” the Counsel asked again.
The witness acknowledged getting his information through him. Having lived in Basse for over 20 years, the witness said, he had known Yaya Ceesay for a long time.
“He called you. Then what happened next?” the Counsel continued to ask.
“One day, I went to his office for him to accompany me to the place [project ground] to show me what and what was needed to be done there. When that was done, I prepared my bid and submitted it to them.
Witness L.S. Marenah said he had no idea about the other bidders who took part in the bidding process, noting he did not know how many bidders were involved.
Elaborating further, he said his bidding documents were submitted to one Mr Jawneh at the procurement unit of the Basse Area Council.
“After some time,” the witness said, “one day I was sent a text message by this Jawneh on the 5th of March 2020, saying: ‘Hello, my boss. Good morning, and how are you and the family? Hope you are doing great. Yesterday we met as a contracts committee to evaluate the bids submitted by contractors. Therefore, for your information, after scrutiny, Alkamba Stores emerged as the winner. Till money; by Jawneh.”
He, however, informed the Commission that “nothing happened”. He added that he made follow ups but in vain.
“That means the contract was never executed. You were not paid any amount of money,” Counsel Gomez suggested to the witness
“Yes,” the witness said as he affirmed the Counsel’s suggestions.
As his testimony drew towards an end, he attested that he did not know why the contract never materialised, adding that the market is still as it was (dilapidated).
He acknowledged to commissioners that the value of the contract was D2,418,518.
