Gambia Democratic Congress said Wednesday it has postponed its planned nationwide tour.

The opposition party had planned to begin a tour of the country on Thursday June 20.

On Wednesday, the party said in a statement the two-week tour has been postponed ‘with immediate effect.’

“This decision came as a result of the heavy wind and rainfall that seriously affected many parts of CRR North, CRR South, URR and other parts of the country where our rallies suppose to be held,” the party said in its statement signed by its spokesman Ahmadou Kah.

The statement added: “It is therefore part of the concepts of the GDC that the party must sympathize with affected communities during times of such disasters instead of running a tour.

“The general public will be duly updated with further decisions to be taken in relation to the proposed tour.

“Hon. Mamma Kandeh and members of the GDC executive will depart tomorrow to the affected communities to sympathize and offer them support and good wishes of the GDC.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to the public, supporters and well-wishers of the party.”

By Lamin Njie

A senior officer of the Gambia Armed Forces who was implicated in the 2006 coup has told the TRRC the misfired venture was not properly planned.

“There was no proper planning of the coup. We had no meeting. There was no meeting at all,” lieutenant colonel Bunja Darboe appearing before the TRRC on Wednesday said.

Darboe was part of a group of officers who attempted to overthrow former president Yahya Jammeh in March 2006 – but the coup misfired leading to the arrest of at least 10 people. The leader of the coup then army colonel Ndure Cham later fled the country.

Darboe said: “It was only Ndure Cham who was at the centre of the gravity. He was the one who was coordinating everything.

“Some of us were advising him that we have to act… Because the coup was planned when the president travelled to Mauritania.

“That was the time the coup was supposed to happen. We wanted to do the operation the very day the president flew.”

At least four people involved in the coup were later killed during their detention. The leader of the coup Ndure Cham is also believed to have been killed after he was arrested while trying to sneak into the country from neighbouring Senegal.

Developing countries, not rich Western nations, are bearing the brunt of the world’s refugee crisis and are hosting most of the record 70.8 million displaced people who have fled war and persecution, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

The UN refugee agency said in its annual flagship report, Global Trends : Half of the World’s forcibly displaced are children and the 2018 total is the highest in nearly 70 years.

The agency said the global figure, which comprises 25.9 million refugees, 41.3 million people uprooted within their homelands, and 3.5 million asylum-seekers, is “conservative.

That is because it does not include most of the four million Venezuelans who have fled abroad since 2015 as they do not need visas or to lodge asylum claims to stay in most host countries.

The agency said if the outflow continues, a total of five million Venezuelans could have left by year-end.

“Certainly if the situation is not solved politically in Venezuela, with a political agreement, we will see a continuation of this exodus,” Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told a news briefing.

Venezuelans, arriving mainly in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, formed the second biggest flow abroad last year, after Syrians fleeing to Turkey following eight years of war, the report said.

“When you say Europe has a refugee emergency, or the U.S., or Australia – no. Most of the refugees are in fact in the country next to where the war is, and unfortunately that means mostly in poor countries or in middle-income countries,” Grandi said.

“That’s where the crisis is, that’s need where we need to focus,” he told a news briefing.

More than two-thirds of the world’s refugees come from five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia, the report said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made reducing illegal migration along the border with Mexico one of his signature policy pledges.

Central Americans reaching the United States after fleeing violence or persecution in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are entitled to request asylum, Grandi said.

The United States should give such people a fair hearing and not separate children from their parents, he said, adding that his agency stood ready to help U.S. authorities’ deal with the challenge.

With 254,300 asylum claims lodged in 2018, the United States is the world’s largest recipient of applications, the report said.

But Grandi said the United States has a huge backlog of 800,000 cases to be processed and that his agency was also helping Mexico to beef up its capacity to handle asylum-seekers.

Asked whether Trump’s policies had made the work of UNHCR more difficult, he said: “It’s not just in the United States, in Europe as well, and Australia.

“This is the crisis of solidarity that I have mentioned. It is identifying refugees and migrants with a problem instead of people that are fleeing from a problem,” he said.

In Europe, the issue has been heavily politicized, leaving some governments “terrified’’ to commit to take in people rescued at sea after fleeing Libya or other conflict zones, Grandi said.

“So the appeal I make, now that we are in a situation where European (Parliament) elections are behind us, is to stop this electoral agitation. The numbers arriving in Europe are frankly manageable,” he said. (Reuters/NAN)

By Lamin Njie

The National Human Rights Commission of The Gambia has said it has received reports of ‘serious’ and ‘discriminatory’ practices in Serahule communities in The Gambia.

“It has been brought to the attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that, serious and discriminatory practices are being meted out by some members of the Sarahule tribe who regard themselves as nobles on other members of the same tribe they regard as slaves. The said discriminatory practices among the Sarahule tribe has been recently reported in Koina and Fatoto villages of Kantora District in the Upper River Region,” the NHRC said in a statement Tuesday.

The statement comes five days after a painstaking investigation by The Fatu Network that offered a comprehensive understanding as well as a real peep into the Koina incident. The special report was first aired by The Fatu Network on Thursday June 13.

A fortnight ago, the nation woke up to the news of an outbreak of another caste-related clashes in the Upper River Region this time in Koina in which houses were set ablaze and properties vandalised. Scores were also injured during the violence. The police later rounded up and detained nearly two dozen people suspected of involvement in the rampage.

On Tuesday, NHRC said it has received reports of serious and discriminatory practices in Serahule communities in The Gambia where “those who regard themselves as nobles have been provoking those that they regard as slaves by using derogatory, Insulting and threatening language resulting in fighting, assault and disorderly conduct.”

“The Commission is also aware that caste system is still widespread in some parts of the country in the North Bank Region, the Central River Region, and the Central River Region where some tribes and clans regard others within their own tribes and communities as inferior (slaves) and others as superior (nobles),” the commission said.

It added: “Some communities have also been known to discriminate those they regard as “recent arrivals” and therefore regard them as strangers as opposed to those they regard as the original settlers.

“This kind of discriminatory labelling has translated into discriminatory practices in relation to land ownership and land use, marriage, including segregated burial sites for “nobles” and “slaves”. The NHRC not only condemns any and all forms of discrimination against anyone within the soil of the Gambia but also wants to make it categorically clear that it is illegal and unlawful under the laws of the Gambia and all the international treaties and conventions that the Gambia has ratified for anyone to discriminate against anybody based on tribe, ethnicity, race, gender, religion and or social status.

“The NHRC is therefore calling on all community leaders, religious leaders, opinion leaders, elders, civil and public servants and the citizenry to be very wary and to desist from making discriminatory statements and or engaging in discriminatory practices. Discrimination cannot be condoned in our communities and those responsible for fanning the seeds of hatred and division will be brought to book.

“The police are also advised to be very vigilant, take an active role in the fight against all forms of discrimination and treat seriously all cases of discrimination reported to them with professionalism and impartiality.

“As part of its promotional mandate, The NHRC, in collaboration with stakeholders, will engage the affected communities and will also roll out a series of activities geared towards sensitizing the general public on human rights, promoting a culture of human rights in The Gambia and assisting the Government in the formulation of appropriate policies to guarantee human rights.”

The National Human Rights Commission, created in 2017, is mandated to promote, monitor, investigate and protect human rights, as well as create a culture of human rights in The Gambia. The institution can also recommend appropriate remedial action to the government regarding a human rights violation.

By Lamin Njie

A group of engineers at the Gambia Ports Authority Ferry Service are carrying out a sophisticated heist in which ten of gallons of fuel are being siphoned on weekly basis, it has been alleged.

Impeccable sources have told The Fatu Network a group of engineers with the technical department at the ferries are engaged in the grand fuel heist.

A source said: “The engineers are the custodians of the fuel in the ferries. They are the ones involved in this. They siphoned it from the bunker while the ferry is moving. They often sell the fuel to taxi drivers on board the ferry. Also, some officials of the senior management team fuel their private vehicles from this.”

Security officers at the ferries on Monday busted an operation in which two engineers and a driver were arrested and taken to the police station at the terminal and charged.

“These security officers have been forwarding these kinds of matter to senior management but for some reason they do not take any action,” the source added.

“The security are doing their job but the engineers always boast that nothing will happen.

“There is the issue of nepotism as some senior management officials are related to those who are involved in this.”

Another source also confirmed to The Fatu Network on Tuesday that two engineers were detained at a police station at the ferry terminal in Banjul on Monday over allegations they stole fuel, adding a member of the staff of ferries protested the detention of the engineers in the middle of a crowd.

The source who was present during the incident and has an audio recording which has been made available to The Fatu Network added: “While the matter was at the police, a gentleman named Mustapha Cham who is a weld man in technical department was standing in the middle of the terminal surrounded by a group of people.

“He was saying that the fuel theft should not be an issue since both the GPA management and that of the ferries have been taking millions of dalasis from the coffers and that has never been investigated. He was shouting and insulting.”

‘I do not know anything about fuel theft’

The public relations manager at the ferries Omar Touray told The Fatu Network on Tuesday he doesn’t know anything about the alleged fuel heist.

“I do not know anything about fuel theft. It has not been reported to me and nobody has shown me anything like that,” he said.

He added: “With regard to the fuel, I have not gotten any report from the police or the NIA. We have all the security sections here and I have not heard of any report about fuel theft.

“I cannot remember any case reported to senior management. There are certain issues which happened. We have our service rules. There are disciplinary measures we normally take within ourselves. It’s not that whatever comes here we have to expose it to the police.”

On the issue of millions of dalasis being pilfered by officials, Touray said: “That is a fabrication. If people are collecting millions, the government is responsible and we have management who are responsible and you can be just picking millions here and nobody will alarm it.”

The Fatu Network has also learnt that one hundred containers at the ports have gone missing. The case is reportedly being investigated by the serious crime unit of the Gambia Police Force.

The Fatu Network contacted the spokesman of the Gambia Police Force Lamin Njie over the case but he said he was going to find out from the crime department.

Editor’s note: The Fatu Network will launch a full investigation into the alleged fuel theft as well as the alleged stealing of millions of dalasis by some senior officials of GPA

By Lamin Njie

Muhammad Krubally, the man at the heart of Koina’s caste hostilities, has been released on bail.

Krubally was released on bail on Monday by the Basse Magistrates Court after police prosecutors said they needed time to review the ‘desirability’ of prosecuting him on a charge of incitement to violence.

Krubally has been in detention since May 25 following violent clashes in Koina over the so-called slaves and the so-called nobles social arrangement.

On May 25, 2019, Krubally wore a cap to a mosque in Koina. His action led to him being tied by a group of boys. The move triggered violent clashes in which houses were set on fire and properties vandalised. Scores were injured as a result of the clashes.

By Lamin Njie

The Basse Magistrates Court on Monday extended the remand in custody of 23 people arrested over the Koina caste violence.

A fortnight ago, the nation woke up to the news of an outbreak of another caste-related clashes in the Upper River Region this time in Koina in which houses were set ablaze and properties vandalised. Scores were also injured during the violence. The police later rounded up and detained nearly two dozen people suspected of involvement in the rampage.

The suspects, numbering 23, have been accused by the police of inciting violence, arson and assault.

On Monday, they appeared in court for a second time in 20 days with scores of people mostly family and friends turning up to see what was going to happen next to their loved ones. The case however could not proceed following an argument.

The argument started after the police prosecutor MD Mballow made an application for the case to be transferred to the special criminal division of the high court as one of the charges against the accused persons involved arson.

Arson is a very serious crime – a capital offence – that carries a life imprisonment sentence and a person accused of the crime cannot be granted bail. The police prosecutor cited the constitution and various sections of the criminal procedure code to support his argument that the Basse Magistrates Court was not empowered to try the case.

The lawyer representing 14 of the accused persons Kaddijatou Jallow rejected the prosecutor’s claims and said the court can in fact try the case. She also cited the constitution and various sections of the criminal procedure code to support her argument.

In the end, the magistrate Omar Jabang adjourned the case to June 24^th for a ruling over whether the lower court has the power to try the case. He also ordered that the accused persons be remanded in custody.

The world is about to get a whole lot more crowded, according to a new report by the United Nations, with the planet’s population expected to climb to nearly 10 billion by the middle of this century.

The UN’s World Population Prospects 2019, published on Tuesday, estimated that the next three decades will see today’s figure of 7.7 billion people rise to 9.7 billion by 2050 despite a continued slowdown in the global birth rate.

More than half of the increase will be concentrated in just nine countries – India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States – while the population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to nearly double.

“Many of the fastest-growing populations are in the poorest countries, where population growth brings additional challenges in the effort to eradicate poverty, achieve greater equality, combat hunger and malnutrition and strengthen the coverage and quality of health and education systems to ensure that no one is left behind,” said Liu Zhenmin, the UN’s undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs.

The study concluded that the world’s population could reach a peak of nearly 11 billion around the end of the current century. (Al Jazeera)

By Fatu Network reporter

There appears to be no shortage of criticism against authorities in The Gambia over its perceived failure in forestalling a recent caste tension in Koina that led to destruction of property and some injuries.

Some viewers of The Fatu Network yesterday accused the Gambian authorities of, what they described, dereliction of duty and apathy to a grave security concern after a panoramic report was aired in the medium’s News Review program about the festering caste problem in Koina.

During the 40-minute documentary giving a panoramic view of the social upheaval in Gambia’s Upper River Region town, some commentators did not mince their words when they accused government of watching Koina and other communities in the URR fall apart as a result of deepening suspicions engendered and stoked by caste issue.

The latest to add his voice to the debate of the authorities’ perceived carefree attitude towards Koina is Muhammadu Touray who is also born and raised in Koina but now resides in Canada.

Speaking in our studios along Kairaba Avenue on Friday, Touray expressed conviction that had the Gambian authorities adopted the right measures the Koina situation would not have degenerated to such level.

Touray is of the belief that had the police in Fatoto and the former local government minister in Banjul shown interest as far as the Koina problem was concerned, then the recent burning of houses and other properties in Koina would have been prevented.

Koina is an influential settlement in The Gambia but was refused to be heard when the town raised alarm bells of a disturbing trend threatening the fabric of the society, said Touray.

Mr Touray is still struggling to understand why former minister of local government Lamin Dibba and police in Fatato could not listen to the wails and lamentations of the people they swore to serve.

“We may be far removed from the capital but this doesn’t translate that we do not need to be treated like any other citizen. If our appeals for interventions were heeded to, then Koina would not have been in the situation that it is in today,” he posited.

Touray contended that the police and the former local government minister were not proactive when an emergence of the so-called Gambana campaign in Koina was reported to them sometime last year.

Gambana is a Serahule word which literally translates We Are All One. But it is seen in some communities in the URR as signifying a movement that is propagating imported ideology to fan tensions between people of same communities.

“Gambana is a very soothing and fine word on the surface but the word has deeper connotations. It is used by people who feel they are minorities in Serahule communities. It is used in Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and wherever you have Serahules as indegenes. This is a movement that is being used to create a rift between people who have co-existed in peace for generations.

“Problems caused by this issue was reported to the police on several occasions but the police in Fatato saw this as an opportunity to milk our people because they knew Serahules eschew conflict with the law. The minister also failed us when his office refused to respond to appeals for sanity in our village because this Gambana thing was getting out of control.”

Editor’s note: Watch out next week for more of our interview with Touray

By Fatu Network reporter

The Inspector General of Police Mamour Jobe has said that it is the desire of the Gambia Police Force to drastically reduce road traffic accidents in The Gambia.

Jobe speaking through his deputy Ebrima Bah on Thursday at the police day ceremony said the police will continue to do everything possible to reduce accidents on Gambian roads.

Jobe said: “We urge all and sundry to support and collaborate with the police at all times and provide us with timely and important information to facilitate our daily operations.

“It is also my administration’s goal to drastic reduce road traffic accidents and enhance road safety through our highways.

“We will be doing this through our road safety management strategies and this we intend to do in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders in the enterprise.”

Jobe’s comments come one week after a passenger van collided with a truck in Pirang killing six people including two women.

Remittances from international migrant workers to their families are expected to rise to over US$550 billion in 2019, up some $20 billion from $529 billion last year, Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), stated on Friday.

In a message released on the occasion of the United Nations’ International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR), observed each 16 June, Houngbo noted that the money sent home by the world’s 200 million migrant workers adds up to more than three times the level of official development assistance (ODA) and surpasses foreign direct investment (FDI). An impressive figure given that it corresponds to only 15 per cent of migrant workers’ earnings, with 85 per cent remaining in host countries.

“Behind the numbers are the individual remittances of $200 or $300 that migrants send home regularly so that their 800 million family members can meet immediate needs and build a better future back home. Half of these flows are sent to rural areas, where they count the most,” Houngbo said.

If current trends continue, it is projected that $8.5 trillion will be transferred to families in developing countries over the 15-year life of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By then, it is estimated that over $2 trillion (on average 25 per cent of remittances received) will have been saved or invested. If leveraged effectively, remittances can have an unprecedented multiplier effect on sustainable development.

“Governments, regulators and the private sector have an important role to play in leveraging the effects of these flows and, in so doing, helping nearly one billion people to reach their own sustainable development goals by 2030,” Houngbo added.

With half of all flows going to rural areas in developing countries, IFAD has long been committed to working to make the development impact of remittances even greater. The crucial contribution of migrant workers has also been recognized in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, adopted in December 2018.

Remittances are private funds transferred through private channels and are of increasing interest to the private sector, both as a business opportunity and as a tool for development. Global efforts have been underway to bring transfer costs closer to the 3 per cent target identified in SDG 10.

Linking these flows with financial services and, in the process, bringing millions of people into the financial sector, remains one of the greatest development opportunities that remittances offer.

“Over the past decade, IFAD has invested in over 40 countries, supporting more than 60 projects aimed at leveraging the development impact of remittances for families and communities,” said Paul Winters, IFAD Associate Vice-President, speaking at an event held today at UN Headquarters in New York recognizing the international day and its #FamilyRemittances2030 campaign.

“Providing better access to remittances and better use to families through rural financial institutions has had a positive impact in rural areas by bringing many unbanked recipients into the formal financial sector. Thanks to this inclusive effect, families can now collaterize remittances and access financial products, such as savings, credit, and insurance,” he added.

“In fact, it is fair to say that, in poor rural areas, remittances can help to make migration a choice rather than a necessity for so many young people and for future generations.”

By Lamin Njie

The caste-generated feelings of deep-seated animosity between members of some communities in the Upper River Region district of Kantora have led to the deaths of two people in a twelve-month period.

A fortnight ago, the nation woke up to the news of an outbreak of another caste-related violence in the Upper River Region this time in Koina in which houses were set ablaze and properties vandalised. The police in the region have rounded up and detained nearly two dozen people suspected of involvement in the rampage.

But what is the Barrow administration doing to bring an end to this caste madness in Kantora? Well, according to the chairman of Koina Village Development Committee, Mr Saikou Samura, the Gambian authorities are not keen in the maintenance of peace between members of Koina’s various social rungs.

“Deeply concerned and perturbed by the deepening caste-related problems, the Alkalo and Imam of Koina despatched a mission to governor Fatou Jammeh in Basse for immediate intervention. Fatou Jammeh sent up to three letters to Lamin Dibba who was then minister of local government for government intervention in the caste issue. But up to his [Dibba] time of leaving office, nothing has been done about the issue,” Samura tells The Fatu Network over the weekend.

Koina in the upper reaches of The Gambia is one of very few communities that boasts of a school, health facility and other social amenities through the sweats and toils of her citizens. Through community self-help initiatives, Koina has succeeded in building a school that is catering to the educational needs of her children as well as a health facility that is reducing mortality rate in that part of the country. Citizens of Koina, spread across the world, pride themselves in bringing development to their home through collective, communal efforts. The one thing though that helped Koina come this far in terms of development is the fact that the people have peacefully co-existed for over 200 years.

Located 500km from the Gambian capital Banjul, Koina is a promising, growing settlement with over ten thousand residents. However, the growing feeling of deep-seated animosity between the so-called freeborns and slaves is seriously threatening the peace in which members of the community enjoy.

Visiting the remote settlement over the weekend, The Fatu Network find that there is more to the recent clash in Koina than meets the eye. A security issue deserving national attention, Koina caste problem is a combination of complex factors from tradition to economics.

The Fatu Network traced the recent clash largely to a sustained campaign for ‘equality’ in the predominantly farming community. Gambana, a Serahule world with the English equivalent of We Are All One, has been synonymous with a persistent struggle for freedom in Koina. In schools and other public places, the word Gambana is written everywhere and this has not gone down well with all residents of Koina.

It was little over two weeks when Muhammad Krubally went to the town’s mosque during the dusk prayers with a cap on which Gambana had been printed. But according to some worshippers, when they saw Krubally walked into the town mosque with the Gambana writing, it became evident that he was shooting for trouble. He was immediately hauled over by a group of worshippers and taken to the house of the Imam of the town and manhandled before been rescued by the police.

But why has Gambana become such an emotive term in Koina to the extent of arousing feelings that can lead to destruction of properties and injuries?

According to narrations of some supporters of Gambana movement, the word Gambana has come to be popularly used not only in Koina but also in some communities in the Upper River Region(URR) and beyond, to agitate for the abolishment of the term slave inherited by generations due to social arrangement.

“We became emboldened to wear Gambana T-shirts and materials when we realised that the so-called freeborns are irritated by it. It exasperates them because they don’t want to break away with the tradition of calling us slaves,” Haji Keita of so-called slave status tells The Fatu Network.

He adds: “It then metamorphosed into a sustained campaign for the abolishment of the slave label tagged on us. You can find it [Gambana] written everywhere in the town now.”

Some members of the so-called freeborns of Koina rejected the notion of Gambana, saying no-one is treating anyone inferior and therefore Gambana had no place in the community ‘only to ignite mistrust.’

Be as it may, the caste-related problem in Koina and other villages and towns in URR requires a drastic surgery for the security and safety of communities.

The Fatu Network made efforts for either the minister of information of The Gambia Ebrima Sillah or the spokesperson of the government Ebrima Sankareh to speak on the issue but none was able to give us an interview. Ebrima Sillah did not answer calls neither did he respond to a text message. The Fatu Network visited his office on Tuesday June 11 and left a message with his secretary. The secretary returned to us the following day saying the minister told her she should tell us he was busy. Ebrima Sankareh on the part told The Fatu Network he was travelling out of the country and will be unavailable for two weeks.

Editor’s note: Momodou Justice Darboe contributed to this story  

By Lamin Njie

The US Embassy in Banjul on Thursday said the United States government fully supports the government of The Gambia in its investigation into the corruption of former President Yahya Jammeh.

The Embassy in a statement said the US also supports the Gambia government’s efforts to recover the ill-gotten gains of Jammeh and his associates.

The statement added: “We commend the efforts of the Commission of Inquiry into the Financial Activities of Public Bodies, Enterprises and Offices, and those of the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General of The Gambia for their work in uncovering and documenting the kleptocratic actions and mechanisms of the former president and his associates.

“We echo President Barrow’s position that “never again” must be the focus of Gambian effort, not only in regards to the abuse of power that led to systematic, state-sanctioned gross violations of human rights, but also in the pervasive corruption that robbed the people of The Gambia and depleted the resources of this country to the benefit of only a very few.

“We encourage the government to work closely and expeditiously with the National Assembly to analyze this extensive corruption, and develop strong legislation, strong regulations, and strong rule of law-based investigative and prosecutorial mechanisms to address persons who abuse their positions of public trust to greedily benefit themselves – not only in the past, but also in the present and the future.

“Though it will be a long and involved process, the government of the United States is committed to working with the Government of The Gambia to pursue all available legal means to recover the ill-gotten gains of Yahya Jammeh and his associates identified by the Commission of Inquiry.  We encourage other governments and international organizations to render all possible assistance to the Government of The Gambia in this regard.”

By Momodou Justice Darboe

The Gambia government is involved in consultations with authorities in the United States for the recovery of Yaya Jammeh’s house in the US, says The Gambia’s justice minister.

Abubacarr Baa Tambadou on Wednesday informed members of the press that he was engaged with the US ambassador to The Gambia as measures and actions continue to recover the ill-gotten properties of President Jammeh within and outside The Gambia.

On Jammeh’s multi-million dollar house in the US, Minister Tambadou said: “I believe I heard information that the property[Jammeh’s US house] was frozen. I’m involved in exchanges with ambassador Paschal [US ambassador to Gambia]. We’ve been working on this.”

He revealed that the Gambia government is cooperating with several governments around the world in tracking and recovering Jammeh’s properties.

“With other Jammeh properties, tracking and recovery is a very sensitive matter and people have the ability to move assets around the world. And, we are cooperating with several governments. I am not at liberty to disclose the nature or the identity of those governments otherwise I risk endangering the process of recovery because those assets could be moved quickly.

“Let’s remember that assets recovery efforts outside Gambia are not unfortunately within our control. They are on foreign territory and are subject to foreign laws. We can only rely on the goodwill and the support and cooperation of those countries where some of these assets are.”