The minister’s revelation came on the heels of a question asked by Hon Sainey Jawara to provide details of the procurement process of the 100 vehicles; the criteria used for selecting the vehicles; the total expenditure; and how these vehicles would be utilised after the OIC Summit.
Minister Keita said it was announced in a restricted tender approved by GPPA. “Bids were received from Shyben A. Madi, TK Motors, Espace Motors, Quantum Net, Asata Motors, Lanza Motors, and Cornerstones. Espace Motors and Quantum Net won the first lot, while TK Motors won the second lot. The OIC board recommended a change in terms due to a reassessment of VIP needs and cost considerations.”
“Lot 1 includes 60 Toyota Land Cruiser VXR vehicles costing 7.4 million Euros. Lot 2 consists of 21 Prado VX vehicles, 6 Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles, and 2 Mercedes-Benz vans, totalling 1,340,900 Euros, 1,044,000 Euros, and 170,000 Euros, respectively.
“Lot 1 was awarded to Esparce Motors, while Lot 2 was initially negotiated with TK Motors but eventually awarded to Esparce Motors. The total contract value for the 89 vehicles was 9,996,000 Euros. Vehicle selection was based on technical performance, comfort, and after-sales service specifications.”
Minister Keita further explained that the financing for the purchase of the 89 vehicles was not included in the 2024 budget and had to be arranged within a short timeframe.
He said to fund the transaction, they approached the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, which approved a $US15 million loan, however, the loan terms did not offer positive interest rates, so the supplier had to pre-finance the vehicles.
“As of now, only 20% of the vehicle value has been paid, with the supplier financing the rest. The first payment of 120 million Euros was made two months ago, but there is still a balance owed to the supplier. The financing for the 20% payment was obtained by consolidating the vehicle budgets of all the MDAs and using the proceeds from that consolidation,” he further explained.
Hon. Muhammed Bah, the Member for Banjul North, said he wanted to know the actual balance concerning the total cost, which is 80%, the Finance Minister responded,
"The total cost for the entire transaction was 9,969,000 Euros, and what we paid was 120 million Euros. I have not done the arithmetic, but certainly, we can do the numbers. You convert 120 million into Euros, and then you calculate the percentage of the 9.9 million Euros. Reasonably, it comes close to 20%."
