Jah Oil company’s CEO Hamidou Jah has stated that a prominent member of the Cement Importers and Agents Association of The Gambia Baboucarr Mbye was denied cement at the Jah Multi-factory because of “price manipulation”.
Mr. Jah accused Mr. Mbye of deliberately inflating the retail price of cement in order to capitalise on it as an advocacy issue around the 180% cement tariffs.
“You increase the price and then run to the radio stations to accuse us of selling cement at prohibitive prices,” Mr. Jah stated in a telephone conversation with JollofNews.
This medium reported on Monday that Jah Multi-factory has been turning away the cement trucks, belonging to Mbye and another member of the Cement Importers and Agents Association of The Gambia.
According to some members of the association, this move was in retaliation to the resolute stance that Mbye adopted against the cement tariffs.
But according to Hamidou Jah, his company’s decision to deny Mbye cement was well-intentioned.
“We have to protect the people from unnecessary cement price hikes. You cannot sell a bag of cement at D500 when you purchase it at a way cheaper factory price. And this is exactly what he [Mbye] was doing and it’s unacceptable to us,” Mr. Jah explained.
Meanwhile, some members of the cement importers and agents trade union argued that even if what Mr. Jah said about Mbye was true, cement price hikes and shortages in the country could be traced to the protection that The Gambia government is offering to Jah Multi-factory, Salam and Gacem.
The Gambia government last year increased the trade tax on a bag of cement from D30 to D180 ostensibly to protect local cement factories.
