The Gambian government put up for sale a fleet of three planes and many luxury cars, including Rolls-Royces owned by former President Yahya Jammeh. Finance Minister Amadou Sanneh (photo), told Reuters today May 11, adding that the money generated will be used to repay part of the country’s huge debt contracted under Yahya’s regime.

Indeed, these planes and cars were reportedly purchased with money from massive public fund embezzlement via public corporations, which amounted to more than $100 million, one third of the government's annual budget.

Sales outcome will soon be revealed. This operation was launched as IMF warned Gambia last May 9 against further borrowing after debt stock reached 130% of GDP at the end of last year.

However, this sales decision is being refuted and denounced mainly by Jammeh’s supporters who claim that this is “the former president's properties”, accusing the current president’s administration.

For the record, as soon as Adama Barrow took office as president, he set up a commission that visited Jammeh’s many properties and recently discovered in a jungle, a domain that hosts a mosque, a war training camp and a vast private safari park. The commission, which indicated that most of Jammeh's properties are hidden abroad, announced that efforts are underway to recover the looted assets.

Let’s also recall that Yahya Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup. He then went into exile in Guinea in January 2017, after refusing his defeat in the face of current president Adama Barrow following elections held two months earlier.

Olivier de Souza