The Gambia confirmed Tuesday it received $2.5 million returned by the United States from the sale of former president Yahya Jammeh’s mansion, and said the money would go to victims of his rule.
Jammeh, in power from 1994 to 2017, is accused of syphoning millions of dollars in state funds for his personal use.
The US Justice Department had announced in September that it would return the proceeds from the sale of a mansion owned by Jammeh to The Gambia.
It said the former president and his wife had bought the property in the posh Washington suburb of Potomac, Maryland using “criminal proceeds and misappropriated Gambian public funds”.
The Gambia Reparations Commission, which was set up to compensate victims of abuses committed during Jammeh’s 22-year rule, said it was “pleased to inform victims, survivors and the public that it has received a total of $2,573,414.10 recovered from the forfeiture and sale” of the property.
The funds “shall only be utilised for the payment of reparations by the Commission”, it added in a statement, calling the return of the money “an important step” toward the compensation payments promised in a 2023 law.
“The Commission is committed to ensuring that the funds are managed responsibly, transparently and accountably, with due regard to the rights and needs of victims and survivors,” it said.
