The Gambian government has confirmed the receipt of more than $2.57 million recovered from the sale of a United States mansion formerly owned by ex-president Yahya Jammeh, with the funds earmarked for reparations to victims of abuses committed during his rule.
The Gambia Reparations Commission announced on Tuesday that it had received $2,573,414.10 from the forfeiture and sale of the property in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The money has been deposited into the Reparations Fund account at the Central Bank of The Gambia and is to be used exclusively to compensate eligible victims and survivors.
The return of the proceeds follows an agreement between The Gambia and the United States signed on September 18, 2026, providing for the transfer of recovered assets to support the country’s reparations programme under the Victims Reparations Act of 2023. The US Department of Justice said the net proceeds returned under the agreement amounted to $2,507,911.73, while the commission later reported receiving $2,573,414.10. The difference between the two reported amounts has not been explained in the available statements.
US authorities pursued the forfeiture after alleging that Jammeh and his wife, Zineb Jammeh, used proceeds of corruption and misappropriated Gambian public funds to purchase the property. The US Justice Department filed a civil forfeiture complaint in 2020, and the property was subsequently forfeited and sold.
The Reparations Commission said the funds would be managed responsibly and transparently, taking into account the rights and needs of victims and survivors. The initiative is intended to provide financial redress to people harmed during Jammeh’s 22-year rule, which ended in 2017.
Jammeh’s rule was marked by allegations of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence and extrajudicial killings. A Gambian commission of inquiry estimated that between 240 and 250 people were killed by forces under his government. Jammeh left the country in January 2017 after refusing to accept the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, eventually going into exile in Equatorial Guinea.
Sirra Ndow, director of the Alliance of Victim-Led Organizations, described the return of the funds as an important step towards reparations for victims and survivors.
President Adama Barrow has said his government would consider recommendations from official auditors on how the funds should be allocated to victims. The reparations programme forms part of The Gambia’s wider transitional justice process, which seeks to address past human rights violations and provide redress to affected individuals and families.
The transfer also demonstrates how international asset recovery proceedings can help return funds allegedly obtained through corruption for public benefit. However, the recovered amount represents only a portion of the broader reparations needs arising from abuses during Jammeh’s rule.
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