During her testimony, Mayor Lowe insisted that she only knew of a D2 million payment made directly to the Banjul City Council (BCC) by Sharbel. “What Sharbel has with Nandu, I don’t know. I’ve never heard of the D5 million or D20 million until it was mentioned by the CEO,” she told the Commission.
The Mayor further denied Nandu’s claim that he informed her each time he paid money to Sharbel. “He may have said it, but I never received such calls, and I never discussed any money deal with either of them.
“You can conduct a forensic investigation on the phone calls he mentioned,” she said.
Although she acknowledged speaking to Nandu occasionally on her private line only for a business capacity, “because he is a business man in the city council,” stressing that they never discussed financial transactions about the land.
The Commission also raised issues surrounding the land’s alleged reassignment to MK Stores, a company associated with Nandu. A council meeting dated 30 April 2019 referenced Sharbel’s application for a change of use. However, the Mayor clarified that the only application she saw was from Sharbel not MK Stores. “I only became aware of issues between Nandu and Sharbel when the allocation was revoked from Sharbel to Bond Road,” she explained. She admitted that Sharbel did tell her he wanted to transfer the land to MK Stores but maintained that there was no official approval from the council for such a transfer.
Another issue Mayor Lowe addressed was the procurement of LED lights from Senegal. The purchase, which bypassed GPPA approval, was a subject of intense scrutiny. Former CEO Mustapha Batchilly testified that the GPPA had initially rejected the procurement request. Despite this, the purchase went ahead allegedly on the Mayor’s instruction. Batchilly confirmed that the Mayor was aware of the GPPA’s rejection but insisted the lights were urgently needed.
Mayor Lowe admitted that she may have asked her staff to explore procurement options in Senegal because the streetlights were urgently needed, particularly in areas like Tobacco Road.
The Mayor also faced questions about her decision to travel abroad with her personal assistant, Isatou Njie, to attend a women’s leadership conference in Washington, D.C. Njie was not officially invited by the event organizers and attended only as a guest of the Mayor.
Mayor Lowe defended the decision, saying it was necessary for her to have her PA present for personal support. “Is it a crime to travel with my PA?” she asked.
