Land Sale Sparks Scrutiny of Banjul City Council Dealings

By JarraNews Staff Reporter Banjul, The Gambia — A Lebanese-Gambian businessman at the center of a controversial land transaction in the capital has admitted profiting over D13 million from the sale of a public property, despite having no formal lease or signed agreement with the Banjul City Council (BCC). Testifying before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Sharbel Elhajj revealed he purchased a plot of council land for D2 million in 2018 and later sold it to EMK Stores, owned by businessman Nandu, for D15 million. Elhajj’s testimony unfolded over two days and exposed a murky chain of verbal proposals, informal payments, and administrative ambiguity—raising fresh questions about the city council’s land management practices under the previous administration. A Deal Without Documentation Elhajj told the commission that he initially approached the BCC with a proposal to develop a warehouse and packaging facility along Bond Road. However, the project—allegedly pitched by a Nigerian company called Fuwani—never materialized. “There was no feasibility study,” Elhajj admitted. “I could not have waited for it. Time is of essence.” Instead of the requested Bond Road site, BCC allocated him a plot behind the National Assembly. Elhajj said he paid D2 million to the council’s account before inspecting the land—a decision that raised eyebrows during cross-examination by Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez. “Who pays for land before seeing it?” Gomez asked. “Will you do that under normal business conditions?” “No,” Elhajj replied, “but maybe that was BCC’s procedure.” Fuwani later rejected the site, and Elhajj turned to EMK Stores, arranging to have the land transferred despite lacking legal ownership. Profiting from Public Property On April 16, 2019, Elhajj wrote to the BCC’s Chief Executive Officer requesting that the land be transferred to EMK Stores. Though he had no formal lease, the transaction proceeded—culminating in a D15 million deal with EMK. “You don’t have a land. You don’t have anything to sell,” Gomez said during questioning. “Yet you made D13 million.” Elhajj responded: “If you do A minus B, that is correct... But there were risks involved.” BCC’s former CEO Mustapha Batchilly confirmed that Elhajj had paid D2 million to the council and that his application was approved by the Council, following a referral from the Mayor. However, Batchilly admitted no lease was ever issued. “We just used the letter [from Elhajj] to transfer the land to EMK Stores,” Batchilly testified. “That letter was not a power of attorney,” Gomez retorted. “Council did not authorize the transfer.” Questions Over Origin of Funds Further scrutiny revealed that the D2 million Elhajj used to pay BCC may have originated from Nandu himself, casting doubt on Elhajj’s claim that Fuwani was the original partner. “There was no Nigerian company,” Gomez concluded. “Nandu was in the picture all along.” Elhajj admitted he sought out Nandu only after the Fuwani deal collapsed. “That deal failed,” he said. Yet Gomez remained unconvinced, arguing that the entire Fuwani narrative may have been a fabrication to secure the land. A breakdown of payments submitted to the Commission showed Elhajj received D10.8 million from EMK Stores, with two cheques dated August 2020 tendered as evidence. The agreement between Elhajj’s firm, C-Consulting, and EMK Stores stipulated that D5 million would be paid to the council—though BCC records show only the initial D2 million was received. When asked about the size of the abandoned project, Elhajj claimed it was valued at $20 million. “Where can we find documentation for that?” Gomez asked. “Nowhere,” Elhajj admitted. Mayor in the Dark? Batchilly, who described himself as “shocked” upon learning of the D15 million deal, testified that he had contacted the Mayor via WhatsApp to ask whether she was aware of the transaction. “She said she wasn’t,” Batchilly said. He also cast doubt on EMK’s later claim to have invested D35 million in the site, particularly in backfilling. “I don’t know about that money,” he said. “D33 million for backfilling does not make sense.” Gomez agreed: “That reasoning is simply implausible.” Commission Demands Clarity As the hearing concluded, the Commission requested a full list of all land allocations made by the BCC during the relevant period. Batchilly promised to provide the list on June 3. The inquiry has spotlighted what appears to be a pattern of informal arrangements and private profiteering from public land—without the necessary documentation, oversight, or due diligence. “You don’t have land. You don’t have anything to sell,” Gomez said in closing. “Yet you walked away with millions.” Elhajj’s response was stark: “It is business.”