GPTC, The Rejoinder
Mr. Editor: Please give me space in your widely read online newspaper to write a rejoinder to Boy Jazzy's article on GPTC. Boy Jazzy is very well informed on GPTC and all what he said was true to the best of my knowledge. I have been motivated by his truthfulness to add the few points below:
Collaterals & Banks
Mr. Houma inherited over 30 million Dalasis in treasury bills, which Ismaila used as sinking fund for replacement of buses and as collateral for any short-term loans such as overdraft from banks. To Houma, keeping such funds or taking short-term loans was not financially prudent. He started cutting the branch he was sitting on by liquidating those valuable investments to pay salaries and buy spare parts. When the funds were exhausted, he could not get loans from the banks even to pay salaries because he had no collaterals. The Arab Islamic Bank (AGIB) usually collected revenues generated from his Volvo Project according to the arrangement as soon as the conductors/conductresses cashed in at Kanifing.
Because he had no credible collaterals, no bank would trust him with their funds. The way out for him was to lease the GPTC premises at Kanifing, Farafenni, and Soma etc using one of his brothers-in-law as a front paying him huge sums of money for a service even a mere clerk could perform. His plan was to use those leased documents as collaterals to secure overdrafts for salary payment, the idea he initially rejected. However, the banks would not burg. He changed from SCB to Trust Bank and then AGIB but the banks were unanimous in their negative responses.
Volvo Arrangement
The Germans (KFW to be specific), towards the end of their time in The Gambia were not donating buses to GPTC. Instead, Ismaila used to utilise the sinking fund to pay for most of them mostly 10 annually. It is not that Volvo was bad but the whole arrangement of securing buses was wrong. Instead of taking some of us the engineering staff to Tunisia, he used to take Board members on trips to advise him. Prominent in the team was Salifu Kujabi, the visa conman who later fled to England when it became known that he was using his office to run clandestine visa deals. During our once lifetime visit to Tunisia, we made it very clear to both Houma and Kujabi that the buses were over 60% electrical and only less than 40% manual which may not be suitable for The Gambia. Moreover, the engines of the Volvos were at the rear and therefore not suitable for our hot environment. To our surprise, we later learnt that Houma told Volvo Company that the buses were going to be used only in the urban areas and not in the provinces. This move was a sharp contrast to Ismaila's method. During Ismaila’s time, whenever he wanted to order new buses he would first request the MAN bus company to send engineers to The Gambia. He would then take them to every nuke and corner of the country showing the bad state of the roads. That is why he used to get the buses with chassis and springs specifically built for The Gambian road conditions although with some small additional costs. Those are the kind of buses that served GPTC for generations with less maintenance cost.
Deadline for KFW
One of the reasons for KFW not wanting to deal with Houma was because he could not produce the monitoring report on time. He used to start well before everybody else by locking himself in his office 7 am to 7 pm and yet produce substandard reports. If someone cannot produce a mere report, how could he run a big para-statal like GPTC? He usually starts his self-incarceration in his office from 7-7 two weeks before KFW missions and yet could never produce his reports on time. In those days, it was very common to see him walked barefoot in his office rehearsing some key responses in preparation for the KFW trip to GPTC. He used to work flat out until he gets tired and take some rest in his settee. I hope the SOS Works would order a big settee for him to rest. At nearly 70 years coupled with the demands of that SOS, he should expect the worse. Anyway, I wish him good Luck!
Why invest on spare parts?
The reason is obvious. Use a funny named company oversees to buy parts and get kickbacks in return. Despite the near bankruptcy of GPTC at the time, Houma will not hesitate to pay the so-called supplier over one million at a time even if it meant empting the coffers. The most urgent thing for the finance staff those days was when the said supplier sent its invoice. He usually harassed everybody in the payment chain until the cheque is finally drawn and handed over to him. Ironically, the agent for that supplier in The Gambia happened to be his childhood friend. Chei Yallah! For now, I will not name the company or the person because he is deceased but anybody who worked at GPTC up to 2003 knows these two names. To legitimize the business, Purchasing Unit was immediately transferred under MD's office and Tijan Jobe who was the Senior Purchasing Manager sent on two consecutive courses from Certificate, Diploma to Masters with full pay. Tijan could not believe his luck going on two consecutive studies under an MD who made intellectuals laughing stocks. I am not sure Tijan fully understood that the reason for his sudden upsurge in luck in such an environment was a deliberate ploy to lay hands on the purchasing apparatus of the GPTC.
Saidykhan, a very intelligent young man who was the Auditor was also sent on studies because he was uncovering most of the dubious deals going on at the time. He could have gone long time ago because he deserved to, but his study was delayed for two years when he was asked to do ACCA in The Gambia. However, his studies became urgent when he started digging into some of the shady deals going on at the GPTC at the time including dubious payment for parts. The excuse for sending him to England to complete his ACCA was to strengthen the Audit Unit. It was no coincidence that the boy's going to England coincided with the period when Houma was overseeing the Purchasing Unit. Chei Yallah!
Dead Yard
As if he had already been informed that the Volvos would not last for long, Houma built what was commonly known at GPTC as "Dead Yard". This was a metal sub-compound built within GPTC main premises to keep derelict buses. Once a bus went beyond repairs, it was taken to the dead house literally for burial. We the engineering staff can only use or cannibalized those dead buses with the permission of Houma who kept the key as the yard keeper. The Dead Yard was a very useful resting place for most of the Volvo buses, which never lived beyond their first birthday.
Kanilai
I once thought President Jammeh was referring to Houma when he said "even if you live in a green house, sleep on a green bed and wear green clothes, etc I will sack you when I have to" This man did not build a green house or slept on a green bed but was the self-proposed adopted father of Kanilai Women's Garden. He was the founder, manager, coach, adviser and I am not sure that he never at one of their matches kept a goal or played defence for the Kanilai football club. "Ndeysaan", all the sports kits given to the GPTC by the Germans went to the said football team while we ended up buying track suits from "genaaw Marcie" in Banjul for the May Day parades and sports. It was one time alleged that Houma used one of the President's friends who happen to be a Marabout to indirectly curry influence. During one of the presidential nominations, Houma was seen inside a big truck with small boys repeatedly shouting on top of his voice "Jammeh Bye-Force", “Jammeh Bye-Force.” We need Jammeh we do not need old Paa! The irony was that, he was above 60 years at the time. Jammeh, true to his words, all those theatrics never moved him and he accordingly did the right thing by sacking Houma at the end of his second contract. Few weeks before, when the management decided to write to all those owing GPTC from bus hires, he quickly ran out of the meeting to call one of the opposition leaders to pay up on behalf of his party before he was written to. Everyone was surprised when one of the biggest debtors was suddenly fully paid up and the name of his party vanished from the list. The same man who engineered that had the audacity to jump with kids in a truck chanting slogans. What a sudden change of loyalty. I beg to differ with some of your readers by saying that, the President should not hire men like Houma to derail the good work he has been doing for the country. I wonder who advised the President to rehire the person who bankrupted GPTC, to be the Works PS responsible not only for GPTC but for other major breadbaskets like GPA. They better start building Dead Yard for sinking ships as well!
I am not sure whether deliberately or not, Houma was given few minutes to pack up and hand over to his successor. All of us were gathered at the training school waiting for the MD to deliver the keynote address at the start of a staff-training programme organized by the Human Resources Department. It is usually during meetings of that nature he comes early smartly dressed and starts his tirades on intellectuals. Unusually though, the MD did not turn up early and everybody was wondering what must have happened. We later learnt that he was not coming at all. On receiving his letter of termination, we heard he quickly ran down the stairs, drove his official car to the nearest fuel station and filled it with diesel instead of the petrol. Whether that was sabotage or out of shock, I cannot tell but I can confirm that it cost GPTC tens of thousand to overhaul the engine of that Peugeot 605. Despite the huge expenditure, the vehicle has not been fully roadworthy. I would believe it was sabotage because he never forgot to take along the 60,000 Dalasis laptop he bought for himself as MD from GPTC coffers. Normally that belongs to the Corporation but he took it along. Chei Yallah!
Why Ferries moved to GPTC?
After the death of all MAN buses and the newly purchased Volvo buses, the only way Houma could, "resurrect" them for "judgment" was to use the funds generated from the ferries to continue buying spare parts from his contacts abroad. God knows whether some of those orders have ever been received.
The lavish use of ferry funds to buy non-delivered spares led to the rapid depletion of funds to maintain the ferries. Because there was no dead yard to keep the ferries, their bad states were known to all including the Secretary of State for Works Mr. Singhateh. He had to urgently summon a meeting inviting SSHFC and GPA to bail GPTC. Knowing the type of management Houma was leading at GPTC, Mr. Jagana of GPA requested that he had a hand in the management of ferries because GPA cannot spend over 20 million to purchase ferries only for Houma to run them down. The latter never liked that suggestion and almost exchanged blows with Jagana in the SOS's office. At the end of the day, Jagana prevailed and the management of ferries was transferred to GPA with the staff it came with. Others who were original GPTC staff found to be good at their work also moved leaving Houma with nothing in terms of both human resources and funds to run the corporation. That is how GPTC went on its knees.
Boy Jazzy had said a lot about the cleansing of professionals from that institution and I do not want to further dwell on it. Holding a paper higher than his so-called BA in management was enough to get you inside a boxing ring with him. He embarrassed the so-called educated staff in the presence of their juniors and denied them chance to speak their minds at meetings. Those who ventured were blacklisted forever. Promotion and being sent on studies were based on the following criteria:
be related to him or any of his numerous wives regardless of your qualification,
meet him every morning to talk about others and feed him with information (true or false)
be a beautiful women in his eyes regardless of your marital status
have a junior secondary school certificate and be prepared to be set against qualified persons in his management
be at a strategic position that interferes with his deals such as Audit, Purchasing etc
A Saint at GPTC
Ebrima Gabisi, a naturalized Gambian from Sierra Leone portrayed himself as the saint and was used by Houma for his ends. I will not absolve Ismaila as well from making Gabisi the monster he was. His reports were never questioned, his words were final and through that has succeeded in dismissing hundreds of Gambians (conductors, Inspectors, drivers etc). Regardless of his sainthood, he claimed to have been, he was caught several times selling diesel meant for GPTC buses and ferries. The security forces in those dubious deals twice caught him. The monster used to bring charcoal, firewood to Houma and in return got his way in dismissing the innocent.
Good things about Houma
As they say, a devil should be given its due. Houma is gifted in two main areas. He is a handsome man by most standards. Even at close to 70 years, if he treats his hair, he looks like a young man around 45 years. He knows how to dress to the satisfaction of all. Finally, he is a master orator for small group meetings. Given the slightest chance to explain himself, he could mesmerize his audience. He is not a good public speaker but a real master in small group meetings. One cannot take these things away from him.
Conclusion
GPTC under Houma is a typical example of a failed institution and one can write several books and documentaries about it. It is endless and unfortunately cataloguing his legacy will require a lot of valuable time. I apologize for the errors in my writing as I am not a journalist and my facts may not be as coherent and in good English as you may want. Give me spanner to repair any vehicle and I will do it to perfection but not writing. Nonetheless, I will be happy to write a rejoinder to the well-informed Boy Jazzy's part II should it be necessary.
Thank you once again for giving me space.
Kenbugul Charreh
Kanifing, Serrekunda, The Gambia.
Editor's Note: Ironically, the same Bakary M.K Houma was appointed only last week as Permanent Secretary Ministry of Works & Infrastructure.It remains to be seen what will happen to the Gambia Ports Authotity.