The Gambia to use Jammeh mansion sale proceeds for reparations fund

The Gambia has said money from the sale of a former president Yahya Jammeh's mansion in the United States will be used to compensate victims of his rule. The Gambia Reparations Commission said it received just over $2.5 million from the sale of a property in Potomac, Maryland, a wealthy suburb of Washington, DC. The commission said the money has been placed in the Reparations Fund account at the Central Bank of The Gambia and will be used only for reparations.

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The commission said the funds were deposited directly into the account and must be managed responsibly, transparently and accountably. It said the money is intended for victims and survivors of abuses committed during Jammeh's 22-year rule, which ended in 2017. President Adama Barrow said his government would follow any recommendations from official auditors on how the funds should be allocated.

Jammeh, who now lives in Equatorial Guinea, was forced out after losing the 2016 election to Barrow. He has been accused of presiding over the murder of political opponents, disappearances, rape and torture. A commission of inquiry estimated that between 240 and 250 people were killed by Jammeh's forces in the former British colony of about two million people.

The sale proceeds therefore represent a rare recovery of assets linked to a former ruler whose government has long been associated with serious abuses. The case also reflects a wider effort to turn recovered assets into direct support for victims. The US Justice Department filed a civil forfeiture complaint in 2020, alleging that the property was bought with proceeds of corruption.

A court ordered the property forfeited in 2022, and the US Justice Department said in September that it would return the sale proceeds to The Gambia. According to the complaint, the property was purchased through a trust set up by Jammeh's wife. For The Gambia, the transfer of funds is significant because it links asset recovery to a formal reparations process rather than general state spending.

It also places pressure on the authorities to show that the money reaches victims in a transparent way. The commission has not said how many people will receive payments or when disbursements will begin. What remains unclear is the timetable for distribution and the criteria that will be used to decide individual awards.

It is also not yet clear whether the reparations fund will receive additional recovered assets in future. For now, the commission says the money will be reserved solely for victims and survivors of Jammeh's rule.

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