Tambadou Clarifies Sale of Jammeh and Associates’ Shares in Gam Petroleum and Comium
By Fatou Sillah
Abubacarr M. Tambadou, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has explained the process leading to the sale of shares belonging to former President Yahya Jammeh and his close associates in Gam Petroleum and Comium.
Testifying before the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee investigating the disposal of Jammeh’s assets, Tambadou confirmed that while shares in these companies were sold, those in GT Bank remain unsold.
According to Tambadou, the shares were forfeited to the state and later sold by the court-appointed receiver through a competitive bidding process. He emphasized that his ministry was regularly updated on the transactions, though he did not personally attend the sales. Representatives from the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the President were present during the process.
“I was informed that the receiver was going to conduct a sale of the shares. I didn’t go to the venue, but my ministry staff went, and a representative of the president’s office was also there, if I recall correctly,” he told lawmakers.
Tambadou testified that the winning bidders included the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) and Star Oil. He clarified that SSHFC purchased shares on behalf of the government, stressing that this was not a gift but a financial transaction consistent with state interests.
Explaining why the government chose to sell rather than retain ownership of the shares, Tambadou said the priority was to recover funds misappropriated by the former president and generate revenue for the state.
“The government could have kept the shares, but one of the options was to sell the shares, and that is what the government did. A lot of money, by the way, was generated from those sales,” he noted.
Tambadou added that while he received reports from the receiver, the detailed management of the bidding process was handled by the Solicitor General and the Department of Civil Litigation, not by him directly.
“But in terms of the mechanics of the sale, the bid sector, I was not involved in that,” he said.
He further explained that proceeds from the sales were promptly transferred to the Central Bank, usually within a week, including accrued interest. “Since the government was under pressure to get money, the idea was that the money generated should spend as little time with the receiver as possible,” Tambadou said.
On Comium, the former attorney general said he had little knowledge of the specifics surrounding the sale of its shares.