That is the significant part here: not another promise to reckon with Jammeh-era abuses, but proceeds from a specific overseas asset that have already arrived. The commission said the funds “shall only be utilized for the payment of reparations”.
In its statement, the commission said the money was deposited directly into the Reparations Fund account at the Central Bank of The Gambia and would be managed “responsibly, transparently and accountably, with due regard to the rights and needs of victims and survivors”. President Adama Barrow separately said his government would heed any recommendations by official auditors on how the funds would be allocated to victims.
The Potomac property had become a useful test of whether corruption cases pursued abroad could deliver anything concrete at home. The US Justice Department filed a civil forfeiture complaint in 2020 alleging the mansion was bought with proceeds of corruption. A court ordered its forfeiture in 2022, and US authorities said in September that the sale proceeds would be returned to The Gambia.
Jammeh ruled for 22 years before leaving power in 2017 under regional pressure after losing the 2016 election to Barrow. He now lives in Equatorial Guinea. He is accused of presiding over murder, disappearances, rape and torture. A commission of inquiry estimated that between 240 and 250 victims were killed by his forces.
The transfer settles one question. Foreign asset recovery, at least in this case, has reached the reparations system in The Gambia. What remains less settled is the distribution process itself, which Barrow’s reference to auditors suggests is still being worked through.
Still, the state can now point to something more solid than intent: money from the sale of Jammeh’s US property is in the reparations fund.
Alex de Valletta 
Dua Mifsud 
Marcus Azzopardi