…had advised him to “Wuk lil obeah”

ALTHOUGH she was unable to answer basic questions when she appeared before the Commission inquiring into the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger, Diamond Housing Scheme cosmetologist, Luanna Walker fondly known as “Diva” said she had pleaded with the accuser not to go to the police but instead “wuk lil obeah” on the accused plotter.

It is Walker’s strong belief that the accuser, Andriff Gillard, who in her view has a questionable background, fabricated the story about the assassination plot with the intention of putting the accused, Nizam Khan, behind bars.
On Wednesday, Walker was one of two witnesses who appeared before the Commission of Inquiry (COI) as the high-level investigation continues into the alleged plot to kill the President and the Guyana Police Force’s handling of the matter.
On March 29, 2017 Andriff Gillard alleged that Nizam Khan asked him to kill President Granger in 2015, an allegation Khan has since denied. According to Gillard, he had approached Khan to loan him $6M but Khan instead offered him $7M, noting that he would not have to repay the money if he killed the President.
When Walker took the stand on Wednesday, she told the Commission, headed by retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe, that Gillard was her neighbour for approximately three years but he recently relocated along with his wife. It was noted that during that period, Gillard had rented a workstation within her salon for the purpose of barbering, and it was also during that period that she would come to learn of Khan and the support he had given to Gillard in the setting up of his taxi service.
During one of his many visits to her residence this year, Walker said Gillard had complained bitterly about Khan and his involvement with his wife and other issues that had stemmed from the alleged affair.

“He said Diva, ‘you don’t worry with that, when I done with he, you will see what I’m going to do,” Walker said as she recalled her conversation with Gillard. Upon hearing this, the cosmetologist said that she told Gillard not to do anything “stupid.”
It was then she said that Gillard unveiled his plan. “His direct words to me were, ‘Diva, I don’t have to put anything in his yard, I got better sense than that. When I do what I got to do to the man, I gon lost he away in jail because you know how long he come telling me he want me kill the President,” she further recalled.
According to the single parent mother, she pleaded with Gillard “not to go down that road” because “ungratefulness” is worse than “witchcraft.”
“I even go so far in telling Andriff, Andriff best you go and wuk lil obeah someway on the man before you do something like that.”
The Commission’s Attorney James Bond questioned her about the time and place, where the story of the plot was revealed to her. In response, Walker told the Commission that while it was said at her residence she cannot recall the exact month it was told to her by Gillard.

“Was Andriff over at your place in January, the first month of the year?” Bond questioned, while further asking if it was in the month of February or March. Walker, in response said, “I cannot recall.”
After repeatedly being pressed for an answer by the Commission’s attorney, Walker said “I never looked at date, I never looked at time, I never looked at month because it was not even of interest to me until it started making the news.”
On the basis that the report made to Police by Gillard was lodged on March 29, 2017, Bond suggested that the story of the plot was told to her between January and March, 2017, to which the cosmetologist responded in the positive.
“It was not long after Andriff came to me that I saw the news,” she added.
During the cross-examination, Walker concurred that although she had filed a report to the Grove Police Station about Gillard’s failure to pay her $10, 000 he had owed in rent, and had subsequently expressed concerns about him negatively influencing her stepson, Gillard never made any false allegation against her.

The Diamond Housing Scheme resident said she decided to give a statement to the police based on her knowledge of the incident on July 19, 2017 after she realised that the allegation “was getting out of hand.” She was reportedly following the developments on social media, and even consulted with her “lawyer” on the matter.
“I knew that Andriff was lying on the man based on what he told me,” she repeatedly told the Commission.

As he further cross-examined Walker, Bond asked: “Did the Police promise to withdraw any charge or any story or drop any matter against your son, if you were to give a statement against Andriff?” Walker, in response, said she had no knowledge.
Slowe, in seeking clarity on the statements made by Walker, asked her to disclose the name of her lawyer. “I can’t recall,” she said while promising to supply the commission with the name at a later stage.

Additionally, it was not until several minutes had elapsed that Walker was able to disclose to the Commission where she had given her statement to the police. Initially she had repeatedly said, “It was not far from here.” The statement was reportedly given at Police Headquarters’ Eve Leary. The name of the officer that took the statement, Walker was also unable to disclose. She was subsequently told that it was Corporal Laundry.
Retired Chief Justice, Ian Chang, who is representing the interest of the police, in his line of questioning, asked whether Gillard had said he had planned to lie on Khan, and was told no.

“I cannot recall him saying the word plan,” Walker responded. However, she opined that based on her understanding Gillard was lying and it was a plan to put Khan behind bars because of a land dispute and the alleged affair.
Walker had also told the Commission that Gillard’s wife had told her that Gillard was planning to frame Khan. However, Walker was unable to disclose the name of the wife although claiming to be her neighbour for approximately three years.