Gambia’s Millions Allegedly Missing After Jammeh’s Exit

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Jammeh flew out of The Gambia on Saturday after long talks with Ecowas leaders/Photo: Reuters

Agency Report

Not less than $11m (£8.8m) is missing from The Gambia’s state coffers following the departure of former leader Yahya Jammeh, an adviser to President Adama Barrow has disclosed.

Mai Ahmad Fatty was reported by the BBC to have said that financial experts were trying to evaluate the exact loss.

Luxury cars and other items were seen being loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane on the night Jammeh left the country.

Jammeh flew into exile on Saturday, ending his 22 years in power.

He had refused to accept election results but finally left after mediation by regional leaders and the threat of military intervention.

President Barrow remains in neighbouring Senegal and it is not clear when he will return.

However, West African troops entered the Gambian capital, Banjul, on Sunday to prepare for his arrival.

Cheering crowds gathered outside the State House to watch soldiers secure the building.

The Senegalese general leading the joint force from five African nations said they were controlling “strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate… Mr Barrow’s assumption of his role”.

Mr Fatty told reporters in the Senegalese capital Dakar that The Gambia was in financial distress.

“The coffers are virtually empty,” he said. “It has been confirmed by technicians in the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of the Gambia.”

He said Jammeh had made off with more than $11m in the past two weeks alone.

Fatty said officials at The Gambia’s main airport had been told not to let any of Jammeh’s belongings leave the country.

Reports said some of the former leader’s goods were in Guinea where Jammeh had stopped on his journey into exile.

Jammeh is reported to now be in Equatorial Guinea, although authorities there have not confirmed it.

 

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