Gambiaj.com – (Banjul, the Gambia) – Former Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubacarr B. Tambadou has told the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee that recovering former president Yahya Jammeh’s assets was not high on his agenda when he assumed office in 2017.
Appearing before the committee on Monday, Tambadou said the new Barrow administration was overwhelmed with more pressing concerns of peace and stability in the aftermath of Jammeh’s exit.
“You want me to be honest? The assets were not high on my priority list,” Tambadou admitted. “We were just recovering from the verge of a violent conflict, and our priority was ensuring peace and a smooth transition. The properties weren’t going anywhere, the landed properties were in this country, the vehicles were on state property.”
Despite political pressure to move quickly, Tambadou said he refused to act without evidence. The turning point came when he obtained a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) report through informal channels, which he described as the “smoking gun” that justified seeking a freezing order.
“That document provided us with the smoking gun we needed,” he said. “It revealed transactions that could amount to money laundering activities and became the foundation for the freezing order.”
Tambadou explained that the government decided to freeze all of Jammeh’s assets out of caution, since the scale of his holdings was unknown and there were reports of cattle being smuggled to Senegal and vehicles discovered in Casamance.
“For me, it was not just about freezing assets, it was about sending a message that this country was going to change. It was no longer going to be business as usual,” he said.
Counsel Dibba pressed Tambadou on record-keeping, after his initial written response to the committee was marked empty. He admitted that he sometimes used his personal email for official government business, particularly when he was outside the country, and agreed to submit those correspondences along with official records.
The Special Select Committee continues its probe into the sale and management of Jammeh’s assets, demanding both official and personal correspondences from the former Justice Minister.
