Ousman Sanyang, Managing Director of NRA
By Fatou Sillah
The Managing Director of the National Roads Authority (NRA), Ousman Sanyang, has clarified that the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) does not have the legal mandate to independently construct roads. Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Sanyang emphasized that under existing legislation, KMC must obtain approval from the relevant national authorities before engaging in road construction projects.
“According to their very own acts, they cannot build roads; they can build the roads but with the permission of the Secretary of State, and that is in their own act. They cannot build roads; they can maintain them according to the current act,” he said.
Addressing recent public claims by the Mayor of KMC regarding a partnership with the NRA, Sanyang clarified that no formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the two entities. “Until today, I have not seen a sign document from KMC; until now I engaged my deputy because they mentioned his name,” he said.
While acknowledging initial consultations between the NRA and KMC related to the road project, Sanyang noted that the council proceeded with procurement and contracting processes without further involving the NRA.
“We were not part of any negotiations; we did not participate in any review of final contract documents. They confirmed this themselves during the meeting,” he said.
He recalled that his first engagement with the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) regarding the project took place on March 21, 2023, while he was on a national tour with the President. At the time, he advised the Council to continue their consultations with the National Roads Authority (NRA) team.
“I first came into contact with the KMC on the 21st of March 2023. I was contacted by their Director of Development Planning. I was with HE on the Meet the People’s Tour at the time. Then I understood from the phone conversation I had with her that they were in touch with NRA. I said to her, because I’m on this tour, and we’ll be coming back in December, early December, continue your license with the NRA team you started with. And let them look at this. I said to her also, I will delegate my deputy to work with them,” he said.
He further noted that a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was later submitted to him, which had already been signed by his deputy. “They submitted a draft MOU to me, and it had already been signed by my deputy. I started asking about the MOU, and they gave it to me,” he said.
He further noted that a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was later submitted to him, which had already been signed by his deputy.
“In the same document, the NRA was referred to as both consultant and contractor; you cannot have two roles; these are two important roles on a project; it is a supervision role and a contractor. This is not singable, because you cannot execute it with two roles, so even if they signed, this cannot be implemented,” he said.
He further explained that, “MOUs by their nature are non-binding; they are not contractual. It is a gentleman’s agreement, which is okay in terms of our relationship with them. We provide the support services in terms of supervision; that is all we will be doing, and they will have their own consultants and contractors,” he said.
Sanyang also raised concerns about the contract documentation KMC submitted in May 2024, describing it as inadequate.
“What they submitted as a contract agreement of four pages—a contract agreement for NRA is a booklet of over 100 pages or more. It would have an agreement, a letter of acceptance, and contract negotiation meetings. This agreement is a rule book, and all the risk issues are contained in it; they are conditions of contracts in it as well,” he said.
He further stated that the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) made an advance payment to the contractor without first securing an advance payment guarantee. “They paid an advance payment to the contractor, but there is no advance payment guarantee, so these are the problems; these are some of the issues and challenges,” he said.
He further stated that while the NRA is open to providing technical supervision to the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), they cannot serve as consultants due to limited capacity. Stating, “We are not set up to act as consultants; we do not have the capacity in house because we are stretched in our own projects at the moment; of all the 600 kilometers of roads we are building, we are consultants to only two of the projects.”
He further explained that on November 24th, representatives from the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), accompanied by National Assembly members, met with the National Roads Authority. During the meeting, KMC acknowledged that they should have consulted the Authority again after selecting a contractor.
“They admitted that they should have come back to us after identifying a contractor; they also admitted that the signed documents are different from ours, and we agree together that we will update again, and we will assist them with supervision, agree to help them with document updates, and we agreed on dates,”
“Engagements continue again at the official levels, and on the 4th of February 2025 we shared with them the updated MOU.” he said.
He stated that KMC responded with several queries, particularly concerning cost figures, including those related to supervision.
“They responded with some questions about figures, which is the charge figure between ourselves and them.”
He clarified that these figures cover operational expenses such as fuel. However, to date, no formal agreement has been signed regarding the proposed MOU with KMC.
He further emphasized that while they are keen to support KMC and see the project succeed, it must be executed properly and in accordance with the required procedures.