Now that the much talked about proceeds from the sale of former president Jammeh’s house in the US is at hand, safely secured in the accounts of the Victims Fund, the Reparations Commission must act with speed to pay out the balance of the already identified victims and work on establishing those not covered by the TRRC.
The call for urgency on this matter is not farfetched or out of place. The simple truth is that victims have waited for far too long, and some have even died waiting. The long wait largely owing to government bureaucracy and alleged neglect, has caused immense disappointment within the victim population especially after government spent over one billion dalasi from the domestic sale of Jammeh’s asset without paying reparations.
It is hoped that with the USD2.5M expected to foot the entire D260M balance of the reparations, the process should no longer be delayed.
To ensure a speedy process the Reparations Commission must now consider paying victims on first-come first-served basis and not the current slow progress of paying according to the year of affliction of atrocity. The current method of payment can only be justified when there is no enough money to spread around. But with enough money to meet the outstanding bill owed to victims, all those who are properly identified should be paid at once.
Additionally, and with the possibility of more money coming from other foreign and domestic sources , the government and the Reparations Commission must consider an upward revision of the TRRC monetary compensation model with a view to providing more money for victims rather than paying millions to lawyers, judges and other experts in the name of seeking justice for victims.
Of course prosecution of perpetrators is important but it must not consume the bulk of the resources while the victims continue to suffer. We must however thank the government of The Gambia and the USA for the effective collaboration in the search for justice, healing and closure for the victims of atrocities committed by their own government under despot Yahya Jammeh.
