On Tuesday, July 15, Nandu Rajwani, the CEO of EMK Stores Ltd., gave the Local Government Commission of Inquiry payment records pertaining to a contentious land deal with the Banjul City Council (BCC).
Rajwani was previously asked by the Commission to provide receipts and evidence of payments related to the purchase of BCC land. Rajwani stated in a previous appearance that he had paid D15 million to a man named Chabell Elhajj for land behind the National Assembly. He said that he paid an extra D5 million after moving to a new location on Bond Road, making the total sum D20 million.
Rajwani provided the following proof of payment on Tuesday:
A D500,000 check made out to Zenith Bank on February 10, 2021
A D230,000 check dated January 26, 2021
A D500,000 open check from Trust Bank dated January 27, 2021
Evidence of a D1 million payment to Chabell Elhajj, together with a letter of acknowledgement
A D5 million payment receipt.
A D2.5 million open check from Mega Bank dated May 20, 2019.
Two D2.5 million checks, each dated May 28, 2019.
Rajwani informed the Commission that he would provide the remaining evidence when his counsel returned, but that some documents are still with his lawyer, who is currently abroad.
Additionally, he turned in a number of land-related documents, such as:
Regarding the BCC property, EMK Stores wrote to Ida D. Drammeh & Associates.
An August 19, 2020, BCC letter to EMK Stores on the lease and move to Bond Road, along with a sketch plan attached.
A rental contract between EMK Stores and BCC.
A letter from the BCC to Ida Drammeh & Associates on November 9, 2020, about the distribution of land at Bond Road.
A land application from BCC sent to C Consultant Ltd..
A communication from BCC to Ida Drammeh & Associates on September 28, 2020, regarding the distribution of a section of the Tenbi wetland
A letter on Tenbi land allocation sent to the CEO of EMK by the Department of Lands and Surveys.
A BCC lease for the property located on Bond Road.
At the beginning of the deal, Chabel was accompanied by his cousin, Rajwani told the panel.
Counsel Gomez said that D2 million was to be paid for the leased site in the lease contract that Rajwani received from the Banjul City Council (BCC). He asked why Rajwani, who claimed to have paid D20 million for the land, did not protest this amount.
Rajwani responded by acknowledging that he did not dispute the stated sum and that the land deal had already caused him great difficulty.A lot of pushing and pulling took place. For this place, I endured suffering. He stated, “I don’t think they can put the D20 million on the lease document because it will blow up because they chop all the money.”
He said that Mayor Lowe, Chabell, and Chabell’s cousin were the beneficiaries of the monies.
The lease was shown to him, but he declined, stating that he is illiterate. He went on to say that he gives his lawyer whatever documents he receives so they can be examined and processed.”I don’t look over all of this documentation. However, he acknowledged, “I know they put D2 million there.”
