The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger on Wednesday heard that Andrif Gillard’s former Landlady, Luanna “Diva” Walker, advised him to ‘wuk obeah’ on Nizam Khan, rather than going to
Luanna Walker
the Police to report details of the alleged plot.
In a statement to the Police on July 19, 2017, Walker said she knew Gillard for over six years and about three years ago, she opened a salon and rented a barber station to the accuser. She related that during that time, she had to make several reports to the Police station because Gillard would not pay her the rental fee.
She told the Police that one morning, Gillard came over by her and made a proposal offering her a spot to move her salon, where he had his taxi service but she declined. Walker added that she then questioned him further and he related that he moved to a new location since Nizam Khan was instrumental in getting him kicked out of the place he was presently in.
“I then ask Andrif how he know that and he said “I does know anything I want to know, when I done with he, I gon give everybody thing fuh talk.” I then told Andrif that he must not do Nizam nothing because he must remember he get a son and he told me he don’t have to beat nobody he will lost him away in jail. I then said to Andrif how you mean you gon lost he away in jail, what you gon do to him, you gon plant something on him or set he up with a gun, and he (Andrif) said ‘no’. He said I got better things to do; when I done with he everybody gon believe because people know me and he is friends and when I done plan I gon go and say that he pay me to kill (President) Granger. I then told Andrif not to do that,” Walker told the Police.
When she took to the stand before the Commission, she was unable to clearly answer the questions posed to her; rather she was focused on relaying the impression that Gillard was abusive to his wife.
The Commission’s attorney, James Bond, noted that Walker’s statement lacked date, time and names and he tried to establish a timeline when the alleged conversation took place but the task proved to be a challenging one.
Walker informed that the conversation took place sometime in 2017 before Gillard made the report on March 29 while noting that she cannot recall the month ‘but it was not too long before he reported it.’
In her initial statement, Walker claimed Gillard said that he would go to the Police and say Nizam offered him money to kill Granger but that changed slightly when she testified on Wednesday.
“When I do what I got to do to the man (Nizam) I gon lost he away in jail because you know how long he come tell me that he want I kill the President,” she testified.
She related that she tried to dissuade him from doing that and offered him a solution. “I even go so far in telling Andrif that is best he (Andrif) go wuk lil obeah somewhere on the man before you do something like that,” she suggested.
As she continued her testimony, the details began getting even sketchier since Walker was unable to remember the name of the attorney who advised her to make a statement in the matter. What added more questions to the woman’s testimony is the fact that she did not know the location or the name of the Police Station at which the statement was given.
Corporal Jermain Laundry of the Major Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary, took the statement. However, when he testified on July 21, Laundry failed to inform or submit the statement to the Commission.
On Wednesday, Laundry related that after he took the statement he handed over it to Assistant Superintendent of Police Mitchell Caesar.
The public hearing aspect of the CoI comes to an end on Friday when Gillard will take the stand once again. The final report is expected to be submitted to the President on August 18.
