The mineral sand mining largely conducted along the coastline of Kombo South has been synonymous with widespread environmental destruction. A 2024 study has found mining activities strip women— mainly gardeners and rice farmers— about 60% of their income.
An investigation by The Republic published in April revealed that despite the environmental consequences, the mineral mining company— Gach— operates without necessary oversight from environment watchdogs, and the State that owns 60% of operation’s net profit ‘blindly relies’ on the company for even records of shipment.
Now, an audit of the government accounts 2021, 2022 and 2023 reveals that not only is the contract skewed in favour of the company whose defacto owner is an associate of the President, the auditors could not account for close to a million dollars meant to be paid to the Geology Department for training and institutional support between 2017 and 2023.
We rely on your donations to fund our investigations. DONATE to support our work
Contract fails to protect gov’t’s financial interest
In October 2017, barely five months after the company was registered, Gach Mining Company– a business managed by a close associate of the President, Abubakary Jawara—was issued a license to mine mineral sand in coastal areas in Kombo South. A 2018 audit of the National Audit Office queried that the lucrative deal was issued to Gach without tender, with attendant risk that the license was “awarded based on favouritism”.
Despite an access to information request by The Republic, the contract is kept from public view though officials have said a revenue sharing arrangement allows the company to keep 40% of net profit and the government, 60%.
The audits of the government accounts, published by the National Audit Office in the last week of September, concluded that the contract with Gach has failed to protect the financial interest of the government.
According to the contract, Gach and the government share the net profit after the company deducts its expenditure. The contract requires a quarterly review of the sales price of the mineral. However, the auditors found that despite an increase in the gross cost of a metric ton of mineral sand from $125 to $133, the sales price— $200— remains unchanged since 2017. In other words, the higher the expenses supposedly incurred by the company— which had to be deducted before any revenue sharing— the shrinker the profit margin.
“In the absence of periodic price reviews by the Geological Department, the contractual requirement for quarterly adjustments is violated which has likely resulted in a material loss of government revenue, as the selling price remained static despite rising cost of selling expenses. The non enforcement of this provision undermines the government’s ability to ensure fair and equitable returns from national resources,” said the auditors in their 2023 reports.
“Furthermore, Clause 10 appears inadequate in protecting the government’s interest, as it places the entire responsibility of initiating the adjustments on the licensee. There is no explicit enforcement mechanism or oversight by the licensor.” The government said it has already initiated a review of Clause 10 of the contract, though auditors said the query remains unresolved until the time of the publication.
GACH told The Republic the government’s revenue shares improved in the years 2023 and 2024 as their reduction in expenditure led to increase in government revenue to an average of $45 per ton.
Registered in June 2017– only three months before it was awarded a mining contract– the company was on paper owned by one Surahata Jawara who held onto 95% of the shares. He is believed to be a relative of Abubakary Jawara, the actual owner of the business, who held 5% of the shares at the time.
The ownership structure changed in 2022 when two Chinese investors came on board. Zheng Chang now holds 34% of the shares and Tan Chaochang owns 15%, leaving Surahata Jawara with 51%.
Gov’t loses D6.7m in 2021 alone
The Gach Mining Company exported a total of 621 containers or 18, 494 metric tons of black sand in 2021, according to the auditors. Based on the contract agreement, the company is expected to pay the government $832,253. However, bank statements seen by auditors show that only $739, 818 was paid as royalties, with a total of $92, 435 (D6.7m) remaining unpaid to the government.
However, the auditors said the company relied on the “problematic” Clause 10. Clause 10 of the mining agreement states: “The 60% royalty is based on the calculation of the offer made by GACH Mining Company in Schedule B. In case of any changes of more than 10% in either the gross cost or sales price, which inadvertently negatively affects the royalty due to the Government, the licensee shall immediately notify the licensor for a necessary adjustment to maintain a minimum of $40 per MT.”
In Schedule B of the contract, the sales price is $200 for a metric ton. But the price is subject to quarterly review “subject to market price and other emerging unforeseen circumstances”. However, this price has not been reviewed since 2017 in violation of the contract, according to the National Audit Office.
The unaccounted $700, 000
In the recent reports released, it is queried that close to a million dollars meant to be paid to Geology Department for training and institutional support was either not paid by Gach or could not be accounted for by the Department.
Clause 7 of the contract between GACH Mining and the government requires the mining company to pay $100, 000 to the Geology Department for training and institutional support each year.
The audits of 2021, 2022 and 2023 revealed that monies were paid for only two years— 2024 and 2025— in the past nine years. This meant that the company did not pay the $700, 000 due from 2017 to 2023.
“During our audit, we noted that the licensee consistently fails to lodge this amount to the Geology Department since the inception of the license, thus violating this provision of the license,” said auditors in the 2023 report.
When contacted, GACH admitted it has not been paying the $100, 000 into the account of the Department but attributed it to difficulties placed by “public finance control regulations”, even though it paid a similar amount, verified by the auditors, for 2024 and 2025.
“Instead the department made direct requests to us and we covered the Training and Institutional support expenses directly from an account into which we lodged these funds, with the remainder carried over to the next year,” claims the company. Neither The Republic, nor the auditors could independently verify this claims.
Weak oversight
Repeated audits, media investigations and studies have shown there is weak state oversight over the operations of Gach.
As evident in the audit findings of the past five years and investigation recently published by The Republic, the Geology Department and its line ministry— Ministry of Energy and Mine– exercise weak oversight over mining operations and proceeds from GACH’s activities.
In 2019, the Auditor General said the government was solely relying on GACH to verify the number of shipments made.
“There is a risk that the proportion of revenue remitted to the government of the Gambia is understated since no control is in place to monitor or confirm shipment,” said the auditors.
The investigation published by The Republic on April 30 also found that the NEA is failing in a similar way to ensure miners’ total compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
The Republic has sent questions to the Ministry of Energy and Mine and the Geology Department but until the time of this publication, we have not received a reply.
We rely on your donations to fund our investigations. DONATE to support our work
