The Gambian government has received $2.5 million following the forfeiture and sale of a luxury estate in the United States (US) previously owned by former President Yahya Jammeh.
According to the Gambia Reparations Commission, the funds will go directly toward compensating victims of human rights violations committed during Jammeh’s 22-year rule. The transfer follows legal proceedings by the US Department of Justice, which ordered the seizure and auction of the former dictator’s mansion in Potomac, Maryland.
Jammeh ruled the West African nation with an iron fist from a 1994 coup until early 2017, when regional military intervention forced him into exile in Equatorial Guinea after he refused to accept his election defeat to Adama Barrow.
Human rights advocacy groups and victims’ associations have welcomed the recovery as a tangible step toward justice, while pressing for further asset tracing and accountability for human rights abuses under the former regime.
–ChannelAfrica–
