BEECause Gambia General Manager Testifies Before Local Government Commission on MOU with BCC EU Project

Gibbeh Bah Jobe, General Manager, BEECause Gambia

By Fatou Sillah

Gibbeh Bah Jobe, the General Manager of BEECause Gambia, testified on Wednesday before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry regarding a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between her organization and the EU-funded Ostend-Banjul Project.

During her testimony, the lead counsel questioned her about BEECause Gambia’s engagement with the BCC Ostend Project and whether she recalled the MOU. The witness confirmed that she did.

The counsel then asked her to explain how the MOU came about.

In response, Ms. Jobe stated that the MOU involved BEECause Gambia providing services for the Banjul City Council (BCC) in a village called Dangan, located in Banjul. She noted that the project was divided into two phases, with the first phase beginning around 2018.

Before the project officially commenced, she recalled being approached by a man named Petter, who introduced himself as a representative from Ostend City. According to her, Petter explained that there was a partnership project between Ostend and the Banjul City Council, and he had come specifically to explore that initiative. He was touring Lamin Lodge at the time, which is located near BEECause Gambia’s site.

Ms. Jobe recounted that Petter entered the site and showed interest in the beehives. However, when he attempted to move around the area, he was stopped by the security personnel. They informed him that it wasn’t safe to proceed alone and advised him to speak with management so that an escort could be arranged.“The security introduced him to me, and I asked them to take him on the Tour. From the tour, he came back and told me that he is very interested in what we do and what he has seen on the ground. And asked me about what I do, which I told him; he then proposed to me that they would like to have something like this In Dangan; I told him that we render services to other organizations,” She Said.

The witness testified that after he left, she received a call from BCC regarding the project. During the conversation, BCC expressed interest in training individuals in Dangan. She informed them that they would first need to assess whether the project would be suitable for Dangan. If it was, she would then prepare and submit a proposal.

According to the witness, some time later, she was contacted and told that BCC was ready to proceed with the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

She explained that the MOU outlined that all services and materials would have associated costs, and payments would be made in installments—80% upfront and the remaining 20% upon the final implementation of the project.“They look at the budget; they agreed we signed the MOU, and after they make 80% payment. From the 80% we started implementing, we constructed hives and trained ten people, and everything was done successfully, and we were paid our final payment,” she said.

She explained that in 2021, she was consulted by the project team about their intention to train an additional ten people. She was asked to prepare a budget, which she did, and it was subsequently approved. During the second phase, they developed a proposal, submitted interim and final reports, and eventually received their final payment.

“I will say the project was very successful, because we have even harvested and packaged the first harvest and we call it “lemme Banjul” then that was the end of the project,” She Said.

The lead counsel asked the witness whether she had the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the financial proposal. Both documents were presented and admitted into evidence as exhibits.

The lead counsel further requested the witness to produce all receipts for items she had purchased. However, he stated that the receipts alone would not serve as proof of what was actually delivered to the Banjul City Council (BCC).

Counsel Gomez also inquired whether other businesses offer similar services. The witness confirmed that there are other organizations involved in beekeeping and proceeded to name those that provide the same services as hers.

Chairperson Jainaba Bah informed the witness that the total cost involved in the first phase of the project was D303,082.50 and asked about the amount for the second phase.

In response, the witness clarified that the cost for the first phase was D258,210.44, while the second phase amounted to D303,082.50.

The lead counsel then asked how they were paid, and the witness replied that payments were made through Trust Bank cheques. She was subsequently asked to provide her bank details to the commission, which she did.