Court Orders Gamtel to Pay $2.9 Million to Bankai International for Unpaid Telecom Services

Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the High Court

The High Court in Banjul has ordered Gambia Telecommunications Company Limited (Gamtel) to pay more than $2.9 million to Bankai International Private Ltd. for unpaid international telephone services, following a protracted legal dispute.

The decision, delivered by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, also requires Gamtel to cover additional legal costs amounting to $294,000. The ruling marks a significant setback for Gamtel, which had sought to halt the proceedings and argued the case should be referred to arbitration or dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.

Justice Jaiteh rejected both of Gamtel’s applications, finding that no genuine dispute existed between the parties and that the company’s efforts to avoid payment appeared to be procedural delays rather than substantive defenses.

The case arose from a 2018 agreement between Bankai International, a Mauritius-based telecommunications provider, and Gamtel for the provision of reciprocal international wholesale services. The contract stipulated that each party would settle invoices within 30 days.

Bankai, represented by attorney Sheriff Marie Tambadou, alleged that despite consistently providing services and issuing invoices, Gamtel repeatedly failed to pay the amounts due. Court filings indicated that Bankai had issued multiple demand letters and held several meetings with Gamtel officials, who acknowledged the debt in writing.

One of the pivotal pieces of evidence was a letter from Gamtel’s former managing director, Seedy Jaiteh, dated September 26, 2019, which explicitly confirmed that Gamtel owed $1.92 million and that “all disputes are closed.” Another formal acknowledgement of the debt was reportedly made in September 2022.

Despite these acknowledgements, Gamtel, represented by counsel A. Ceesay, argued that the case should be stayed and referred to arbitration under Clause 14.2 of the agreement, and separately contended that the High Court lacked jurisdiction, citing Clause 14.1, which granted exclusive jurisdiction to courts in England and Wales.

Justice Jaiteh found these arguments unpersuasive, ruling that Gamtel’s documented admissions of liability and its repeated failure to contest the amounts due eliminated the possibility of a bona fide dispute. He emphasized that, under The Gambia’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, courts are not obliged to refer matters to arbitration if no genuine dispute exists.

In his judgment, Justice Jaiteh referenced legal precedents, including Bremer Vulkan v. South India Shipping Corp Ltd and Halki Shipping Corporation v. Sopex Oils Ltd, which support the principle that a failure to pay an acknowledged debt does not, on its own, constitute a dispute requiring arbitration.

The court also held that while exclusive jurisdiction clauses are typically upheld, they may be set aside if doing so serves the interests of justice—particularly when the insistence on a foreign venue appears to be a strategy to stall payment.

Finding that Gamtel was effectively estopped from denying liability, the court dismissed both of the company’s motions and awarded costs of 50,000 dalasis to Bankai International.

The ruling underscores the limits of procedural defenses when substantive liability has already been admitted and clears the path for Bankai to recover the outstanding sums. Gamtel has not indicated whether it intends to appeal.