PUBLIC STATEMENT
9th June 2025
EFSCRJ Reminds the Ministry of Justice of Its Legal Obligations to Transparency
Following the publication of the Republic’s ‘The assets of Gambia’s former dictator go for a song’ on April 30, 2025, the Ministry of Justice, in response released a statement on May 5 explaining the disposal of the assets and the creation of a ministerial committee to oversee the process. It concluded that the Government would carry out an audit whose report will be submitted to the National Assembly. Further, it said the Government would produce “a comprehensive report detailing the sales of all forfeited assets – including procedures followed, beneficiaries, sales prices, and proceeds realized – will be made available to the public in due course.” One month later, the Ministry has still not produced this report.
Notwithstanding, on May 8 Gambian youths led by the Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA) staged a lawful and peaceful protest to demand full disclosure of the sale of the Jammeh assets. The Government at all levels attempted all measures to quell the peaceful protests to no avail as the youth stood their ground to demand transparency.
On May 9, the Ministry produced its second press release in which it provided a list of some assets, claiming that other assets such as livestock, furniture and furnishings and other sales will be provided in due course. This is the list the Ministry made available to the public without any explanatory notes about them.
- A list of vehicles, tractors, scrap materials, and other items sold by the Janneh Commission.
- An additional list of scrap materials sold by the Janneh Commission.
- A list of furniture and furnishings sold by the Receiver, Augustus Prom, on the Orders of the Janneh Commission.
- A report on cattle and livestock sold by the Sheriff Division of the Judiciary of The Gambia; and
- A list of the Properties and Shares sold by the Receiver, Alpha Kapital, on behalf of the Government.
On May 5, EFSCRJ submitted a letter of request for information to the Ministry of Justice in line with the Access to Information (ATI) Act 2021. We are requesting a full report on the Jammeh assets and their disposal. According to Section 14 of the ATI Act, a public institution has up to 21 days to respond to the requester as to whether it would provide or not the information requested.
Today, June 9, i.e., 35 days later, the Ministry of Justice has not only failed to respond to our request but also it did not even acknowledge receipt of our letter. This is a blatant disregard of the law whose creation was itself spearheaded by the Ministry in collaboration with the GPU and TANGO. We wish to therefore call on Gambians, more so the National Assembly, civil society, political parties, and our development partners to demand the Ministry of Justice to respect and abide by the law and demonstrate commitment to transparency.
2025 – The Year of Transparency and Accountability
