Gambiaj.com. -(BANJUL, The Gambia) – Civil society organizations in The Gambia are demanding a comprehensive forensic audit of all assets recovered from former President Yahya Jammeh, amid growing concerns that the state may have suffered significant financial losses through undervaluation, irregular sales, and weak oversight.
The demand is contained in a Civil Society Position Paper on the Disposal of Former President Yahya Jammeh’s Assets, developed following a two-day civil society engagement convened by Gambia Participates in April 2026.
The organizations are calling for a comprehensive review of all assets recovered, managed, allocated, and disposed of following the findings of the Janneh Commission.
They want the audit to cover the publication and verification of asset inventories, valuation reports, disposal records, beneficiaries, and revenues generated from the sale of recovered assets.
According to the position paper, where losses to the State are established, appropriate recovery measures must be pursued to protect public resources and restore public confidence in the management of assets seized from the former president.
Concerns Over Asset Sales
The civil society intervention comes against the backdrop of concerns raised by the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee, which investigated the disposal of Jammeh-linked assets.
The parliamentary inquiry identified concerns relating to irregular valuation practices, non-transparent disposal procedures, preferential transactions, and inadequate documentation surrounding some asset sales.
One particularly striking case cited in reporting on the parliamentary findings involved five aircraft reportedly valued at up to $2.228 million but sold for $740,000, raising serious questions about whether the State received fair value.
Civil society organizations argue that such disparities warrant a thorough forensic examination of the processes used to value and dispose of recovered assets.
They say the issue goes beyond isolated transactions and points to broader weaknesses in the management of recovered public property.
These weaknesses, according to the position paper, include incomplete records, weak financial controls, inadequate reconciliation of recovered funds, and insufficient institutional oversight.
Call for National Asset Register
The groups are demanding the establishment of a verified national register containing all assets recovered from Jammeh, their current status, ownership arrangements, disposal outcomes, and revenues realized.
They also want the government to establish a centralized and professionally managed asset recovery and management authority to ensure that similar governance failures do not occur in future asset recovery exercises.
According to civil society, accountability should not end with the identification of irregularities.
Where investigations establish financial losses or wrongdoing, the organizations say administrative, civil, or criminal action should be pursued against those found responsible, depending on the evidence.
They warn that failure to recover public funds lost through irregular asset disposal could further weaken public confidence in the country’s accountability institutions.
The controversy surrounding the management of Jammeh’s recovered assets has become more than a question of what happened to property seized from a former president.
The Civil Society argue a major test of whether The Gambia can effectively protect public resources, enforce accountability, and ensure that assets recovered in the public interest are managed transparently and for the benefit of the nation.
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