The Forum of the Justiciable (FJ) has issued a statement regarding the termination of the contract between the Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship for Women and Youth (DER/FJ) and the company SERTEM for the construction of the Mohamed Bin Zayed Center. The initial contract amount was 17.24 billion FCFA excluding VAT and customs duties.

According to the Forum, public procurement is one of the sectors most vulnerable to waste, mismanagement, and corruption. The increasing number of disputes in this area is worrying and calls for heightened vigilance.

The termination of the contract with SERTEM and the provisional award of the contract to AZKHAR International for 17.3 billion FCFA raise several questions: What is the identity and profile of this newly awarded company? What objective criteria motivated its selection? What references and skills justify its selection for a strategic project? Which other companies submitted bids? Why was the emergency procedure used, and was it truly justified?

Babacar Ba and his associates are calling on the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARCOP) to investigate the reasons for the 59 million FCFA price increase, despite SERTEM estimating that the work completion rate was between 16% and 19%. The organization is demanding an audit to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the contract termination and subsequent award.

They also urge the National Office for the Fight Against Corruption (OFNAC) and the Court of Auditors to take up the case themselves in order to prevent "any suspicion of favoritism and to guarantee the integrity of public procurement".

For the Forum of the Justiciable, transparency in public procurement is "a democratic requirement and an imperative of good governance," the organization emphasizes. It constitutes an essential tool in the fight against corruption and ensures fairness among economic actors.

"The fight for good governance must be constant," they concluded.