By Makutu Manneh
The managing director of The Gambia’s National Roads Authority defended a practice flagged by auditors in which project personnel ask contractors to supply iPhones and laptop computers, calling the arrangement “very appropriate” and consistent with standard accounting for project costs.
In an interview with QTV, the director, Sulayman Sumareh Janneh, said the expenses are anticipated in contracts through “provisional sums,” which allow contractors to procure items on behalf of the agency when needed.
Auditors reviewing the 2024–2025 accounts cited instances in which project staff requested high-end devices, raising questions about whether such requests were proper. Mr. Janneh rejected the criticism, arguing that equipment used to execute a project should be treated as a legitimate project cost.
“How can you justify calculating the cost of a project whereby you were actually using your personal laptop to execute work on that particular project?” he said. “That is a true cost that should have been tabulated and charged to the project.”
He said the use of provisional sums reflects practical constraints in the authority’s procurement process, which he described as time-consuming compared with contractors’ ability to make purchases quickly. Under such provisions, he said, contractors act on the authority’s instructions to supply needed equipment.
“That is the reason why you put these provisional sums on the contract for the contractor to execute upon your instructions.”
Mr. Janneh added that the agency had explained the arrangement to auditors and pointed to contractual clauses governing the practice, but that those explanations were not reflected in the audit findings.
Addressing concerns about the type of devices requested, including recent smartphone models, he said field inspectors working in remote areas, such as Basse, rely on high-quality images and timely reporting to support decision-making.
He also said that any devices procured in this way remain the property of the authority and are reassigned to other projects once work is completed.
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