Former registrar caught in web of denials over Jammeh asset letters
The Registrar General of Companies, Alieu Jallow, who appeared before a parliamentary inquiry into the sales and disposal of former president Yahya Jammeh’s assets was shown correspondences bearing his name and signature after he had repeatedly denied under oath that he had ever corresponded with the Janneh Commission or the Chief of Defence Staff.
The dramatic moment unfolded Tuesday at the Special Select Committee probing the sale and disposal of assets linked to former President Yahya Jammeh. When confronted with the documents, Mr. Jallow’s face fell. “Now I remember,” he mumbled, a stark contrast from his earlier denial: “I never wrote to the Commission. I never wrote to the Chief of Defence Staff.”
The revelation sparked uproar in the chamber, with committee members openly accusing Mr. Jallow of lying under oath and intentionally misleading the Parliament.
Counsel stressed: “You did not forget. You denied. We gave you the chance to correct yourself and you doubled down.”
Mr. Jallow tried to walk back his statement, blaming the mix-up on the passage of time and a change in offices. “There was nothing special about the letter to conceal,” he argued. “But I’m only human.”
“You didn’t just forget,” nominated Kebba Lang Fofana fired. “You categorically denied it. Then the letters with your seal, your signature, your handwriting surfaced.”
Further scrutiny emerged when the committee discovered that although Mr. Jallow had access to a High Court order listing 107 properties linked to former President Yahya Jammeh, his team visited just 36.
Asked why the majority were ignored, Mr. Jallow blamed staff desertion and lack of compensation. “I became a one-man army,” he claimed. “No one wanted to continue because they were not being paid.”
Counsel found that explanation insufficient. “You had the legal authority. You had access. You had an obligation.”
He maintained his claim of being a one man army.
Mr. Jallow also admitted he never saw a second High Court order issued in July 2017 that vested more assets in his control. Yet somehow, he managed to visit properties listed in that very annexure. His explanation: “I worked with someone who knew Banjul well.”
Still, the counsel found it hard to believe that the Registrar General and custodian of all property records needed a tour guide to find addresses in a city with a well-organised land registry.
By the end of the session, the chair issued a stern reminder.
“When Parliament asks for information, you respond truthfully,” he said. “This committee won’t take kindly to concealment, be it deliberate or not.”
Whether Mr. Jallow’s memory lapses were genuine or convenient, his testimony has now raised more questions than answers and possibly opened the Pandora’s box for further legal scrutiny.
Source: The Point
