By Tabora Bojang
The minister of justice has disclosed that 44 properties belonging to former president Jammeh, 15 forfeited from Baba Jobe and seven from General Saul Badjie, were earmarked for sale.
Dawda Jallow made this revelation in response to a parliamentary question by Foñi Kansala lawmaker Almamy Gibba for comprehensive details of the total sales of former President Jammeh’s landed assets, ‘Vision 2016’ rice, cows, sheep, camels, tractors, vehicles, furniture, gold and other valuable assets as well as the names of buyers and the price each item was sold for.
The minister said following the submission of the Janneh Commission report in March 2019 the government released a whitepaper that was gazetted and a ministerial task force was formed to decide on the fate of the forfeited properties.
He said Alpha Capital Advisory consequently took over as receiver to liquidate properties identified for sale by the committee.
According to him, “properties earmarked for sale included 44 properties belonging to former president Jammeh, 15 properties forfeited to the state from Baba Jobe and seven properties from General Saul Badjie, while 11 properties were considered reserved for potential government use”.
He said the sale process involved closed bids, with reserved prices determined through valuations by independent, professional valuers.
“Bidding forms were accessible at a designated office. Successful bidders received formal letters detailing property bid amount and saving based payment deadline. Challenges faced by purchasers were promptly reported to the AG leading to cancellations and refunds in some instances. Notable refunds were issued for Hamza Barracks, No 26 Buckle Street and Yundum Citrus Products company due to property retention, financial constraints and delays in land dimension confirmation,” he explained.
He disclosed that the total amount of movable and immovable properties and equities sold amounted to D1,240,052,593 and included six vehicles.
“The [Janneh] Commission did not deal with the sale of rice, cattle and sheep. They were sold by the sheriff [of the high court] under the instruction of the commission and the total amount was about D8 million. The tractors were sold by the commission and the sales proceeds were paid into the Assets Recovery Account at the Central Bank. The furniture was at Jammeh’s residence in Kanilai and no gold was recovered,” he added.
