Kebba Jome: $2.5M Transfer from Jammeh’s Seized Assets a ‘Big Boost’ for Victims”

By Seedy Jobe

Kebba Jome, vice chair of the Alliance of Victim-Led Organisations, has welcomed the transfer of $2.5 million recovered from the sale of former President Yahya Jammeh’s property in Potomac, Maryland, to The Gambia’s victims reparations fund, describing the money as a significant boost for victims still awaiting compensation.

The funds, recovered by the United States government, are expected to be transferred directly to the victims’ reparations fund rather than through the central government.

Speaking in an interview with QTV on Wednesday, Mr. Jome said the transfer offered renewed hope to victims who have been seeking full reparations since 2021.

“This is a big boost for victims,” he said.

Mr. Jome said that although roughly 2,600 victims testified before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, only 1,009 were initially deemed eligible for reparations because of limited funding.

He said the government provided the TRRC with D50 million as an advance for reparations, of which about D13 million was spent on interim assistance, including medical treatment for victims in Senegal and Turkey. By the time the commission completed its work, he said, only D37 million remained, forcing it to adopt restrictive eligibility criteria.

Of the 1,009 victims deemed eligible, Mr. Jome said slightly more than 300 received one-time payments ranging from D1 to D70,000, while more than 700 received only a 19 percent advance on the compensation awarded to them, leaving substantial balances unpaid.

According to Mr. Jome, the newly established reparations commission began making payments in December 2025 after the government released D20 million for that year. He said another D20 million had been pledged for 2026, but only D5 million of that amount had so far been disbursed.

He said about 100 victims have received payments under the new commission, while more than 600 remain on the waiting list.

The $2.5 million transfer, Mr. Jome said, could help bring the years-long reparations process closer to completion.

He also said the decision to send the recovered money directly to the victims’ fund followed advocacy by victim-led organizations. Mr. Jome said he drafted a letter to authorities in Maryland requesting that proceeds from the sale of Jammeh’s property be transferred directly to victims rather than routed through the government.

He welcomed the decision by U.S. authorities, saying the arrangement ensures that the money is reserved exclusively for reparations and cannot be diverted to other purposes.

Mr. Jome added that the additional funding has also raised hopes among people who testified before the TRRC but were previously excluded from reparations because of funding constraints. The reparations commission, he said, has the authority to register new victims, potentially opening the process to others who were not included in the initial group.