Gambia to pay victims of ex-president Jammeh's rule using proceeds from sale of his US mansion
The Gambia Reparations Commission has received $2.57m from the sale of former president Yahya Jammeh's property in the US. The money is intended for victims and survivors of abuses during his rule.
The Gambia Reparations Commission, the body handling compensation for victims of abuses in the West African country, said on Tuesday that it had received a total of $2,573,414.10 from the sale of a property in the United States owned by former president Yahya Jammeh. The money is intended for people who suffered during his rule.
The commission said it was committed to managing the funds responsibly and transparently, with due regard to the rights and needs of victims and survivors.
How Jammeh lost power
Jammeh lost the 2016 election to Adama Barrow. He first accepted defeat and then rejected the results. He eventually stepped down in 2017 under intense regional and international pressure. Troops from several West African countries, including Senegal, had been deployed to The Gambia and threatened to force him out of office. He agreed to leave and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea.
Properties and allegations
A national commission later found that the former president owned 281 properties in The Gambia, plus one in the US and one in Morocco, and controlled more than 100 bank accounts. It concluded he could not have afforded this on his salary and that he had misappropriated more than $300m.
Jammeh is accused of presiding over the murder of political opponents, disappearances, rape and torture. A commission of inquiry found that widespread abuses led to the deaths of 240–250 Gambians and non-Gambians at the hands of the state or its agents.
