Gambia to pay victims of Yahya Jammeh's rule from proceeds of his seized US mansion

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, Jammeh ruled The Gambia for more than 20 yearsByBasillioh RukangaPublished27 minutes agoThe Gambia will use funds received from the US from the forfeiture of long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh's property to pay victims of his rule, authorities have said.The Gambia's Reparations Commission said it received $2.5m (£1.86m) from the sale of a mansion in Maryland owned by former leader of the West African nation.The US had in 2022 secured the right to sell the property on grounds that it was acquired through "criminal proceeds and misappropriated Gambian public funds".Jammeh ruled The Gambia for more than 20 years after taking over in a coup in 1994 - a time marked by allegations of human rights abuses forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.How US mansion of Gambia's ex-president was seizedPublished27 May 2022Profile: Former Gambian President Yahya JammehPublished22 January 2017On Tuesday, the Gambia Reparations Commission said it was "pleased to inform victims, survivors and the public that it has received a total of $2,573,414.10" from the sale of Jammeh's property.It said it was committed to ensuring the funds were managed responsibly and transparently, "with due regard to the rights and needs of victims and survivors".Jammeh lost to Adama Barrow in the election of 2016, first accepting defeat and then rejecting the results.He eventually stepped down in 2017 amid intense regional and international pressure.Troops from several West African nations, including Senegal, had been deployed to The Gambia, threatening to drive Jammeh out of office.In the end he agreed to step down and went into exile Equatorial Guinea.A national commission then discovered that the former president had 281 properties in The Gambia, as well as the one in the US and one in Morocco, and controlled more than 100 bank accounts.There was no way that he could have afforded this on his salary and it concluded 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 had resulted in the death of "240-250 Gambians and non-Gambians at the hands of the state or its agents".You may also be interested in:The 'peace-loving' country grappling with a gruesome pastPublished17 January 2021Gambia probes sale of ex-leader's luxury cars, cows and boatsPublished15 May 2025The witch hunts which left a nation traumatisedPublished12 June 2022Torture revelations transfix a nationPublished6 June 2019Shot and left paralysed but 'I'll never get justice'Published13 July 2022Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, external, on Facebook at BBC Africa, external or on Instagram at bbcafrica, externalRelated topicsAfricaThe GambiaBBC Africa podcastsFocus on AfricaThis Is Africa