Clarke Bajo Contradicts Other Testimonies Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site Folks, the thieves cannot get their story straight and now are ratting against each other. The millions of Dalasis that Clarke listed in land and vehicles, where the hell did he get it from? He has never patented anything in his natural life and his salary sure did not yield him that? What were the collaterals for the millions of Dalasis in loans? Now they are going after each other's blood. Please read on. The Independent (Banjul) October 15, 2004 Posted to the web October 15, 2004 Karamo Bojang Banjul "My Wife Not Involved in Forex Business" A former Central Bank Governor Momodou Clark Bajo has told the Presidential Commission that his wife, Wula Cham, is not a shareholder and has no shares in Wechet Falling Forex bureau whose shareholders were named as siblings and spouse of some senior officials of the bank. Clarke Bajo's statement contradicts assertions by some senior officials of the bank who during their testimonies before the Commission, alleged that Wula Cham is a shareholder in the foreign exchange outfit. Testifying before the Paul Commission on October 5, Mr. Bajo said her wife was never involved in forex business activities and had no shares or whatsoever in her name in any foreign exchange bureau including Wechet Falling. He dismissed claims made by Begai Ceesay Internal Audit Manager of the bank and the bank's former Foreign Currency Manager Lang Conteh that his wife is a shareholder and holds 26 percent of shares in the business outfit. He dismissed such claims as utterly false allegations, which he had read in local newspapers. The former Central Governor maintained that his wife does not hold any shares in Wechet Falling. When put to him that his former colleagues who testified earlier before the commission had named Wula Cham as a shareholder with 26 percent, Mr. Bajo retorted; "my wife is not a party to the bureau, the documents filed at the licensing department of the Central Bank did not contain a single signature of my wife". When further put to him that a document exists at the Attorney General's Chambers containing names and shares of all shareholders to Wechet Falling including his wife, the former Governor said at the time Wechet Falling was registered he was the licensing authority and that the names on the documents forwarded to him did not include his wife's name. He also provided a document containing names of what he said are the original shareholders and the percentage each of them holding. Wula Cham's name was not among the list he produced. When put to him that this could have been an arrangement between his wife and Betty Saine, one of the shareholders, Mr. Bajo dismissed this theory as untenable because he knows all about his wife's sources of income. When names of Wechet Falling's supposed shareholders including Wula Cham and their holdings were read to the former Central Bank boss, he obdurately stuck to his denial by providing another Central Bank document stating the shareholders of the forex outfit. Mrs. Bajo's name was conspicuously absent from the list. Its list of shares was at variance with what is contained in the document shown to him by the commission and also information given by other Central Bank officials who testified before him. Asked what was Wechet Falling's credit rating with the Central Bank as at the time he was leaving Clarke Bajo said the forex exchange outfit had owed the bank D1.3 million. Further quizzed whether he or his wife was asked to pay part of this debt after the matter was investigated, Mr. Bajo replied in the negative, saying he had not received any queries in relation to this. Asked whether he was, within the relevant period, responsible for the education or maintenance of anybody outside The Gambia, he responded in the affirmative stating that he was paying basic fees of one thousand pounds (£1000) for his daughter who was studying in the United Kingdom. On whether he made savings from his per diems during official travels, Mr. Bajo said he saved about 80 percent of his per diems from West African sub regional meetings and about 60 percent when he attended meetings in Europe most of which, he said, went into his building and agricultural projects. Apart from his official emoluments, Mr. Bajo said he has two tipper trucks, which earn him an extra income. He said he purchased them in January 2001 through a mortgaged loan facility of D600, 000 from the Trust Bank. According to him the trucks were bringing in D60, 000 and D40, 000 as the highest and lowest incomes respectively per month. He said he has a property in Kotu that he rented out for D90, 000 per annum. Still on his sources of income, Clarke Bajo said he has an orchard in Sukuta with about 700 to 800 mango trees, from which he earns D40, 000 although he sometimes earned D20, 000. He also said he has a farm in Tanji where he plants cassava which fetches close to D12, 000 after harvest. Mr. Bajo said he owns cattle he inherited from his father but stated that they were not for commercial purposes. On whether he has any shares in any company, Mr. Bajo replied in the negative but volunteered that he had registered a company called the Kombo Agricultural Enterprises but that the company was yet to begin business. He said he took a car loan of D350, 000 in 2003 but that the bank pays half of the amount. On landed properties, Mr. Bajo said he built two houses in his Sukuta compound both of which cost him about D1.2 million. He said in 1999 he purchased a plot of land in Serrekunda for D80, 000. He said he also has a family property in Gunjur and a farmland in Tujereng, which he purchased in 1992 for D40, 000. In Jamisa, he said, he has a fenced plot purchased in 1994 for D30, 000. Bajo claimed that he has another property in Tanji bought for D24, 000 aside from the farmland but denied having any properties in Banjulinding and Manjai Kunda. His wife, he said, has a plot of land in Sanchaba and another in Sukuta while his daughter has a property in Kotu given to her as a gift by her uncle. On his private vehicles, Clarke said in 1996 he purchased a second-hand BMW car for D80, 000 after which he bought a VW Passat for D375, 000. According to the ex Central Bank Governor he had also bought a Mitsubishi Pajero in 2001 for about D476, 000 and a smaller one for D350, 000. Trust Bank and IBC are his bankers, he said. Relevant Links West Africa Banking and Insurance Currencies Legal and Judicial Affairs Gambia Clarke Bajo meanwhile denied operating an offshore account or credit card. Asked about his wife's income from her business (basic commodities), Clarke revealed that she receives between D400, 000 and D500, 000 depending on the level of stock in her shop. Momodou Clark Bajo, former Governor of Central Bank, has been working at Central Bank since 1975 and by July 1994 was General Manager of the bank. In October 1994 he became Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, a position he held until his retirement in 2003. _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. 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