By Ramatoulie Jawo
In a press conference held on January 20, 2024, at the Gambia Groundnut Corporation (GGC) headquarters in Banjul, Managing Director Muhammed Njie announced the disbursement of D500 million by the government to settle outstanding debts owed to farmers by the corporation.
The event brought together “Secco” presidents and farmers. Njie mentioned that AGIB Bank has already obtained the funds from the Central Bank and will soon distribute the money to Seccos nationwide.
Njie assured that the farmers’ debts with GGC would be resolved within two or three days, emphasizing the government’s commitment, particularly President Barrow’s, to supporting the agricultural sector in The Gambia.
“The debts GGC owes farmers will be solved in two or three days because the money is already available now
“Since the president heard about the situation, he immediately instructed his ministers to stand up to make sure the farmers receive their monies. That’s why we are having this meeting today to tell you about the information,” he told the farmers.
Amadou Nyang, a Secco president in CRR, expressed concerns about the mode of payment, citing delays and insufficient amounts. He highlighted the current difficulties faced by farmers in receiving timely and adequate payments.
“Our biggest challenge as we speak today is the money, the way the money is coming is not favorable to us, because it comes late, and the money takes too long to come, and when it comes also the amount is too small. That is the difficulties farmers have at the moment,” he stated. The Vice President of the Farmer’s Union, Alagie Ceesay, appreciated the initiative to settle groundnut farmers’ debts, emphasizing the importance of focusing on financial matters, knowledge exchange, and dialogue with authorities.
“We are happy that you are working to solve this problem. This year’s farmers have a good harvest both in terms of quality and quantity. The truth be told is that GGC has done extremely well under the leadership of MD Muhammad Njie, so I want to urge them (GGC) to continue the good work,” he said.
Lamin M Sanyang, the Deputy Managing Director of GGC, addressed the challenges of purchasing groundnuts, emphasizing the corporation’s efforts to ensure timely acquisitions. He clarified that the government has the necessary funds but faces difficulties in obtaining money from banks.
“ The management of GGC Buying in credit is not our agenda, there is no government that has an agenda in credit purchases, but everyone should know that money to buy groundnuts is very expensive D38 thousand per ton if you calculate that is too much. Some people think that 1 billion is small money, but it is not small, and it is not our wish for farmers to sit for months without receiving their money,” he added.
Chief Yahya Jarjusey, a board member of GGC, mentioned that credit purchases have occurred in the past during different administrations. He urged caution against undue noise regarding delayed payments, citing historical instances of similar occurrences during previous presidencies.
“In this country, we have been working in the cooperative since the time of Jawara and credit purchases happened since that time, until when you go to some Seccos some groundnuts get spoiled before the actual payment. And the same thing happened during Jammeh’s time as well, and why would people make so much noise when payments get delayed during President Barrow’s time we should be very careful about that,” he said.