By Ramatoulie Jawo
The National Food Security Processing and Marketing Corporation, formerly known as GGC, brought attention on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, to a deficit of D32,533,153.85 million within Seccos nationwide.
Convening a press conference at their headquarters in Banjul, the corporation aimed to inform the public about the recently concluded Groundnut trade season of 2023-2024 and address post-season issues.
During the conference, Lamin Sanyang, Deputy Managing Director at the National Food Security Processing and Marketing Corporation, stated that all outstanding credit purchases for the Seccos in the Gambia had been settled by management.
“For the past two weeks, the management of the corporation invited all Seccos with outstanding credit transactions for the purpose of reconciliation, but out of all the Seccos that were crying, “Notta,” only 40 responded to our invitation. Out of 40 Seccos, 34 were settled in full; the remaining 6 were not settled due to reported shortages at their Seccos. Instead of owing them money, they are owing us money, and that needs to be clear,” he said.
Mr. Sanyang emphasized that the highlighted shortage resulted from the groundnuts brought in by farmers not being delivered to their depot by the Seccos.
“The Seccos received a certain amount of that they were supposed to deliver to our depot, and they didn’t deliver it, and they don’t want to tell the formers that we don’t deliver your groundnuts to the depots, and as such, they will not be paid with regard to that shortage,” he said.
The total observed shortage amounted to 856.135 metric tons across all Seccos in the Gambia, posing a significant financial burden on the corporation.
“That is for the whole of the Seccos across the Gambia, and that is costly to the corporation.”
Sanyang emphasized the importance of Seccos clarifying the situation to farmers, as the majority are yet to be paid due to these shortages. He highlighted the corporation’s partnership with AGIB for farmer payments, with AGIB disbursing GMD1,500B, including GMD40M in commissions to Seccos for groundnuts delivered to depots.
“AGIB has disbursed GMB1,500B for the purchase of nuts, including the commission paid to Seccos which was GMD40M for groundnuts delivered to our depots,” he said.
Dr. Thomas Roberts, Director of Strategy, Development, and Planning at the corporation, stressed the need for revisiting operational methods to mitigate such losses, underscoring the responsibility of being good custodians of national resources.
“Moving forward as a corporation, I think it’s very important that we revisit our mode of operation or mode of interaction with these Seccos, because these monies belong to the country, and it’s important that we be good custodians of what is being given to us.”