By Mustapha Jallow
Sarjo K Fofana, proprietor of ‘Foday Madi’ Trading Enterprise, has threatened to take his life if the current government refuses to pay him his debt of nearly one million dalasi (D990,850.00) worth of materials they owe him. The Agricultural Department took various materials from his shop two years ago, but they are yet to pay him.
According to Mr. Fofana, he has supplied over thirteen pieces of heavy duty air conditioners, four sets of desktop computers, three laptops, office chairs, computer printers and electric kettles to the department. However, he said Government has not paid for the materials materials he has supplied them, adding that he needed to pay off his bills and make further investment in his business.
“At this point, I am bankrupt. I have no income. So, I need this money, and if the state refuses to pay me, I will kill myself and end the story,’’ Mr. Fofana, 49, who is married with eight children, remarked.
“This is just one big mess that the Government has put me into, and enough is enough. Let them pay my money because it belongs to the company,’’ he told this reporter in a somber voice.
Despite the hardship gripping him, the businessman said he is not thinking of taking his own country to court but said he is more likely to commit suicide instead of resorting to legal action.
“I made several follow ups to both the Agriculture Department and the Ministry, and the Finance Ministry as well, but still I cannot get my payment,’’ Mr Fofana said with a heavy heart.
According to him, the materials supplied do not belong to him but a company he is partnering with.
“They are my partners and they are foreign investors who are also disappointed with the way the state is treating me. I am a family man and I cannot be treated this way. My business is totally bankrupt and one of my children has stopped attending school due to my financial situation. Things are very hard for me because my business is being suppressed by the state,’’ Mr Fofana said.
He appealed to President Adama Barrow and his government for immediate intervention before it is too late. He used the opportunity to thank all those who have stood by him during these difficult times.
This medium was also able to lay hands on two invoices of the items taken by the Agriculture Department amounting to a total of D990,850.00.
Since the complaint was brought to this paper, this reporter requested to speak to officials at the Department of Agriculture, and last Friday, 16th February 2024, the Permanent Secretary at the Agriculture Ministry facilitated Foroyaa to meet with the Director of the Agriculture Department in Bakau, in order to hear their side of the story.
Musa M. Humma, the Director of the Department of Agriculture, told Foroyaa that he assumed the role in February 2023, when the debt has been pending as it was not paid.
“When I came into office, I asked the procurement and accounts to bring me all the debts owed by this department to suppliers and service providers. It was then that I came across debts of about four million dalasi that I decided to write to the Ministry of Finance in March, in order to offset these debts, because we cannot do it as a department,’’ Mr Huma explained.
“And God knows that I do not know any of these suppliers at the time but that was just to have fair play,’’ he said.
According to him, his office has submitted all the necessary documents and invoices to the Ministry of Finance, so they can directly pay to the accounts of the suppliers and service providers that his Department owes.
“I also did many follow ups and I am still following the Ministry of Finance so that these debts can be settled once and for all,’’ he said.
However, he said that during the process, he received some questions from FPAC of the National Assembly, regarding this particular supplier (Foday Madi Trading), adding that he has also tasked his procurement and the account office of the Department to get him all the details on this particular supplier, but he later learned that they were not in their records.
“So the procurement did not go through the right way. Even, if I had got funds to pay them, I would have to get those corrected or risk paying them because there were certain things that were not followed,’’ Mr Humma narrated, stressing that he does not want to get back to what had happened in the office before he took over. He told this reporter that no single amount has been released from Finance Ministry in relation to payment of the above mentioned debts.
