The Gambia’s former ruler Yahya Jammeh stole at least $50m from the state, the country’s justice minister said on Monday, in the first major anti-corruption move by the country’s new president.
It is the first time the new government of the Gambia has put a figure to the amount it believes Jammeh plundered from state coffers before leaving for exile in Equatorial Guinea in January after 22 years in power.
“President Yahya Jammeh personally or under his instructions directed the unlawful withdrawal of at least $50 million,” said Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou, describing withdrawals from The Gambia’s central bank and linked with state-owned Gamtel between 2013 and 2017.
“We have today obtained a court order freezing or placing a temporary hold on the known assets in the country of former President Yahya Jammeh and companies directly associated with him,” Tambadou added.
Among the assets frozen included 131 land properties, 88 bank accounts, 14 companies and an undisclosed number of livestock.
Tambadou said the freezing of the assets is to prevent Jammeh from liquidating them while investigations are ongoing to find other assets associated with him.
“These discoveries are just a tip of the iceberg,” Tambadou told a press conference.
Interior Minister Mai Fatty accused Jammeh of taking $11 million after leaving in January, adding he also took luxury cars piled onto a Chadian cargo plane, but the claim was not backed up by the rest of the cabinet.
