Two prospective Hajj pilgrims have told the Banjul Magistrates’ Court that they paid D600,000 each to Ejabah Travel and Tours but never made the journey, as the prosecution continued presenting evidence against Kanimang Bajo in the alleged Hajj fraud case.

The prosecution’s third witness, Rabiatou Sanneh, told the court that she paid D600,000 in February 2026 for her father, Bassy Sanneh, to perform Hajj.

Sanneh, a resident of Brikama and an employee of MRC, said she was introduced to Bajo through Muhammed Faye of Gambia International Airlines (GIA).

According to her testimony, Faye told her that Hajj slots were full but that he knew Bajo, who could assist in securing a place for her father.

Sanneh said she and her brother, Kawsu Sanneh, subsequently contacted Bajo through WhatsApp. She testified that Bajo, who claimed to be in Saudi Arabia at the time, instructed them to pay D600,000 into an Ajib Bank account for Ejabah Travel and Tours and take the payment receipt to his office at Albert Market in Banjul.

She said that upon arriving at the office, a woman identified as Fatoumatta Taal entered her father’s details, confirmed the payment and issued a receipt in the name of Bassy Sanneh.

Sanneh told the court that Bajo assured them her father would travel on the first flight. The family subsequently submitted his Gambian passport and two passport-size photographs.

She said she later contacted Bajo about her father’s vaccination and was told that he could be vaccinated after Ramadan.

Following Ramadan, Sanneh said, Bajo instructed them to submit the details of her father and brothers so they could be added to the Hajj group. She said Jainaba Jobe subsequently added them to a WhatsApp group where Hajj information was shared.

The family later took Bassy Sanneh to Kanifing Hospital for vaccination and paid D1,000.

Sanneh said the additional payment surprised her because they had been told that the D600,000 covered everything.

By then, she said, the family had already purchased a suitcase, clothes, foodstuff and a cow in preparation for the pilgrimage.

But the journey never happened.

“He didn’t go after all the preparations,” she testified. “This caused my father to develop high blood pressure. We were disappointed because they kept assuring us that he would go. This created problems in my family.”

Sanneh said Bajo later gave the group the option of either continuing with the arrangements or receiving a refund.

She opted for a refund but told the court that she has not received any money to date.

Passport and visa questions

During cross-examination by defence counsel M.L. Ceesay, Sanneh was asked whether she had been told that her father’s passport would be processed in Guinea or whether she had ever seen a Guinean passport belonging to him.

She answered, “No.”

The prosecution tendered the payment receipt as Exhibit C and the Guinea passport as Exhibit D.

Sanneh acknowledged that Ejabah Travel and Tours was a registered business and that the Ajib Bank account used for the payment belonged to the second accused.

She also confirmed that her father went for vaccination because the family believed his Hajj arrangements were being facilitated.

Asked whether she was aware that 53 visas had been facilitated, Sanneh said her father was not among those issued visas and that she had no knowledge of the status of the remaining applications.

On an alleged payment of $107,000 by Bajo to facilitate the Hajj process, Sanneh said she was unaware of it.

She also denied having prior knowledge that the accused was using the Guinea-Bissau route to facilitate travel, saying she only heard about the issue after the situation had deteriorated.

Counsel maintained that although the arrangements ultimately failed, Bajo had made efforts to ensure that Sanneh’s father and other intended pilgrims travelled.

Fourth witness: ‘Everyone was happy’

The court subsequently heard from the fourth prosecution witness, Mudu Jallow, a farmer and resident of Sareh Kally.

Jallow told the court that he came to the Kombo area in February 2026 to make arrangements for Hajj.

He said he first went to GIA, where he was informed that the available slots were full and was subsequently directed to Ejabah Travel and Tours.

Jallow testified that he went to the company’s office at Albert Market in Banjul, where he met Bajo and two other individuals.

According to him, he asked Bajo whether the Hajj slots were full, and the accused replied that they were not.

When Jallow asked about the cost, he said Bajo told him it was D600,000, “everything included.”

Jallow said he initially had D300,000, which he paid and for which he received a receipt.

He later went to Brufut, raised another D200,000 and paid the remaining D100,000.

“In total I paid D600,000 and they wrote three receipts for me,” he told the court.

He was also asked to provide two passport-size photographs.

Jallow said he was subsequently added to a WhatsApp group where Jainaba Jobe provided updates about the Hajj arrangements.

He told the court that he was later invited to a meeting in Serekunda, where prospective pilgrims were taught how to perform Hajj and told to inform their families that they would be travelling the following week.

“Everyone was happy,” he testified.

However, the departure date was repeatedly postponed.

Jallow said that on the scheduled day of travel, Jobe, whom he described as Bajo’s spokesperson, informed them that the journey had been postponed to Friday.

He said the trip was later postponed again.

According to Jallow, Bajo subsequently told the group that they would travel with Guinea-Bissau passports while departing through Banjul International Airport.

He said he was informed that he would travel with a Guinea-Bissau passport after sending a photograph of his Gambian passport to Jobe.

But Jallow never travelled and said he has not been refunded.

“The accused told me that there are no visas,” he testified.

He said he felt embarrassed after telling people that he would be travelling.

“I said I will embark on the back way,” Jallow told the court.

The court admitted three receipts as Exhibit E and his passport as Exhibit F.

Defence says travel efforts were made

During cross-examination, Jallow confirmed that there was a WhatsApp group where the names of pilgrims whose visas had allegedly been processed were shared.

He said his name was not among the 53 visas Bajo reportedly said had already been processed.

Jallow also said he was aware of information circulated after Bajo’s detention indicating that the 53 visas, including pending applications, had been cancelled.

Defence counsel argued that GIA’s recommendation of Ejabah Travel and Tours demonstrated that the company was considered reliable.

Jallow said that was also what he had expected when he followed the referral.

Counsel further put it to the witness that Ejabah Travel and Tours was a registered company and that Bajo had made efforts to resolve the passport difficulties, including sending people to the Hajj Commission in Bissau and sending money there.

The defence submitted that Bajo had done what was necessary to secure passports and visas and facilitate the pilgrims’ travel to Hajj, but that the process was ultimately frustrated.

By Adama Makasuba