Seedy Keita, Minister of Finance
By Ramatoulie Jawo
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Hon. Seedy Keita, informed the National Assembly on Wednesday that the total value of the contract for the 89 OIC vehicles amounts to €9,996,000.
This disclosure came in response to a query from Hon. Samba Jallow, the National Assembly member for Niamina Dankunku, who sought details on the procurement process for 100 vehicles purchased for the upcoming 2024 OIC summit. His questions also covered the criteria for selecting the vehicles, total expenditure, and their utilization after the summit.
He further explained that, due to a reassessment of VIP needs and cost considerations, the OIC board advised changes in vehicle specifications. As a result, Lot 1, consisting of 60 Toyota Land Cruiser VXR vehicles, was awarded to Espace Motors at a total cost of €7.4 million. Lot 2, which included 21 Prado VX, six Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and two Mercedes-Benz vans, was also awarded to Espace Motors after protracted negotiations with TK Motors failed to reach an agreement.
“The total value for the contract for the 89 OIC Vehicles was 9, 996,000.00 euros. Bids were received from Sabin A. Madi, TK Motors, Espace Motors, Quantum net, Asata Motors, Lanza Motors and Cornerstones. All bids were opened, and the bid prices were announced in the presence of the bidder’s representative. The bids were evaluated based on prices and technical specifications and scored by a committee. Espace Motors won the first lot, while TK Motors won the second lot. Due to the reassessment of the VIP need and consideration for cost, the OIC board advised for a change of specification as follows: lot one, 60 Toyota Land Cruiser VXR, total cost 7.4 million euros; lot two, 21 Prado VX, total cost 1,340,900 euros; 6 Mercedes-Benz S class 1.044000 euros; and two Mercedes-Benz vans at 1,70,000 euros. Lot 1 was negotiated and awarded to Espace Motors, while Lot 2 went under protracted negotiation with TK Motors. In the end, we could not agree on terms; that is, the concession sought by TK Motors could not be agreed upon, and as a result, lot 2 was awarded to Espace Motors. “He disclosed.
Hon. Keita emphasized that the selection criteria prioritized technical specifications, performance, and comfort to meet the summit’s needs. He also noted that after-sales service was a significant factor in the decision-making process.
“Also, the purchase of the vehicles was based on the market availability due to shipping lead times as we drew closer to the summit. Please note that the usage and allocation of the vehicles post-OIC are with the government controller, who is in charge of the vehicle’s management,” he told the members.
In a supplementary question, Hon. Sainey Jawara, the member for Lower Saloum, inquired about the funding source for the 89 vehicles. Minister Keita responded, clarifying that the transaction was not included in the 2024 budget and had to be financed by a €15 million loan from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBIT). However, since the loan terms from ECOWAS Bank were not favorable, the supplier agreed to pre-finance the vehicles.
“So we went to ECOWAS Bank for investment and development in western EBIT, and they approved a loan financing of 15 Million Dollars, to finance this transaction. Unfortunately, their financing terms are not concessionary, that means the interest is not a concessionary term. We could not use That. So we had to ask the supplier to pre-finance the vehicles. As we speak, we have not even paid more than 20% of the value of these vehicles. And at the time of the summit, Zero Dalasi or dollars, was paid to the supplier, who paid 100% to finance the vehicles, and we were able to use them for the summit,” he said.
He added that the first payment, amounting to D120 million, was made only about two months ago, with the supplier still owing a remaining balance for the vehicles.
Hon. Fatou Cham, National Assembly member for Sannehmentering Constituency, questioned the minister about the legality of purchasing the vehicles and the arrangements made to ensure their availability.
In response, the Minister clarified that there were no known legal issues with the transaction, as it was overseen by the Director of Public Procurement and guided by the GPPA, with all procurement procedures properly followed.
When questioned by Hon. Kebba T. Sanneh, the member for Foni Jarrol, on why the vehicles were only purchased recently despite knowing about the summit for years, the Minister explained that they had not initially intended to buy the vehicles, as they had anticipated donations. However, by February, as the summit approached, it became clear that those promises were not going to materialize.
“In fact, this is not just about the vehicles; if you look at the entire organization of the OIC, we were of the view that we would get support to coordinate and manage the implementation of the OIC, but this support did not come forward. That’s why we waited until the very last minute when we had the decision that what we expected was not going to happen, that is when the government rushed to buy the vehicles. And when we submitted the documents to this August Assembly, you will see that this transaction started around February to March,” he highlighted.