Tabax Rewmi Movement blasts Gov’t over Jammeh assets, lambasts parties for ‘collusion’

In response to Government of The Gambia’s “Official Statement on Asset Recovery Process” dated 5 May 2025, the political movement Tabax Rewmi has lambasted government over the asset sales, citing opacity and “shameless exploitation” of the process.

The movement did not just place all blame on government, it also lambasted Gambian political parties for “collusion”.

Regarding the statement by the government, the movement perceives: “Rather than providing clarity, this statement confirms what many Gambians have long suspected: the disposal of assets supposedly recovered from the former regime was carried out with disturbing opacity and that those in power have shamelessly exploited the process – and those who were.”

It adds: “Let it be known that the government responsible for this questionable exercise was a coalition of political parties, including parties that today claim to stand in opposition. These parties jointly oversaw the Janneh Commission and the subsequent asset disposal process. The silence of these former coalition members in the face of this scandal only heightens our suspicion of their complicity.”

The movement states that the Janneh Commission was established with great public hope. Yet under the guise of legality and bureaucratic procedures, the coalition government transformed a national act of justice into a political auction.

The body raised transparency issues in the process, since government never released the complete list of recovered assets, never disclosed who bought them and never showed the Gambian people how much was made or lost.

Today, the movement concludes, all Gambians are offered is a belated, defensive statement promising reports “in due course”. However, ‘due course’ is not a timeline, it says, but a tactic of delay, and “it is unacceptable”.

Shifting attention to the political parties, it asks: “Where were the voices of the coalition parties when assets were being sold? Why didn’t they demand public disclosures, independent oversight, or a public accounting of the proceeds? Why did no Coalition 2016 party raise the alarm about the potential for abuse?

“Their silence is not neutral – it is endorsement, participation and betrayal. Whether they are now in government or in opposition, these parties cannot distance themselves from the corruption of a process they helped design, oversee, and benefit from. Their continued silence proves that the asset recovery process was not just mismanaged but corrupted by political self-interest.”

In this regard, the movement demands the immediate release of a complete inventory of all assets recovered from the former regime; the names of all individuals, companies or entities that acquired these assets; the methods and terms of each transaction, including sale prices; the total proceeds generated and a public report on how the money has been used.

Until this is done, the movement says, it will regard the entire asset recovery operation as “a coordinated misappropriation of national resources facilitated by the political elite” across party lines.

It therefore appeals: “We call on every Gambian to open their eyes to this betrayal. Those who claim to have led a ‘new Gambia’ have recycled old habits – secrecy, exploitation and impunity. We will not allow politicians and their friends, from corrupt officials to political cronies, to share this country’s resources. Accountability must go beyond press statements and be enforced with truth, exposure and justice. The Gambia belongs to the people. We will continue to demand what is ours.”