By Sainabou Sambou
Legal experts, civil society leaders, and government officials convened today at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center to address growing concerns over asset recovery and illicit financial flows in The Gambia. The stakeholder dialogue, organized by the Gambia Participates, which collaborates with the Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), highlighted the urgent need for legal reforms and enhanced public oversight to ensure that recovered assets benefit both victims and society.
Marr Nyang, founder of Gambia Participates, opened the discussion by emphasizing the timeliness of the dialogue amid heated debates in legal, media, and civil society circles. “This is a professional platform for independent, reasonable critique,” Nyang said, “focused on identifying solutions within our legal framework.” He stressed that current asset recovery laws require urgent updates to align with modern challenges, citing international frameworks like the Common African Position on Asset Recovery and the International Principles for Asset Recovery as potential guides.
Nyang expressed concern over the mismanagement of recovered assets, noting that assets seized during the previous government were often absorbed into the consolidated revenue fund without tangible benefits for victims or the public. “Corruption assets should not be treated like normal revenue,” he argued. “Victims deserve to see the impact through medical care, economic reparations, or infrastructure like roads.”
Facilitator Counsel Abdoulie Fatty, a private legal practitioner, described the topic, “Recovery Governance and the Legal Framework for Asset Recovery,” as critical, especially following controversies surrounding the sale of assets linked to the Janneh Commission. “Transparency is key,” Fatty said. “Civil society, like Marr and organizations such as the Edward Francis Small Centre for Justice and Human Rights, plays a vital role in documenting processes and demanding accountability.” He pointed to Kenya’s proactive courts and civil society as a model for The Gambia, urging stronger citizen oversight and clearer governance structures for managing recovered assets.
Representing the Ministry of Justice, legal drafter Fatou L. Njie welcomed the dialogue as an opportunity to address gaps in the legal framework. She highlighted existing instruments, including the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the 2023 Anti-Corruption Act, and decrees from 1994, but acknowledged their limitations. “These laws help deprive criminals of illicit gains,” Njie said, “but there are areas for improvement.”
Njie pointed to fragmentation in the legal system, with overlapping laws creating inconsistencies that delay proceedings. She noted that the absence of a consolidated Proceeds of Crime Act hinders unified recovery processes across criminal, civil, and administrative cases. She also flagged limited provisions for non-conviction-based asset recovery, a critical tool in complex corruption cases, and inadequate frameworks for international cooperation, such as mutual legal assistance and asset repatriation.
Beyond legal challenges, Njie identified systemic issues slowing asset recovery, including manual case management, limited financial investigation capacity, prosecutorial delays, and judicial backlogs. These obstacles, she argued, also restrict public access to data on recovered assets. However, Njie saw these challenges as opportunities for reform. “We can develop a new Proceeds of Crime Bill aligned with international standards,” she said, advocating for digital case management systems and stronger ties with regional bodies like ECOWAS and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
The dialogue underscored a shared commitment to reform but revealed the scale of the task ahead. Stakeholders agreed that a transparent, victim-centered approach to asset recovery is essential to rebuild public trust. As Nyang said, “Laws must evolve with the times to serve justice effectively.” With calls for a consolidated legal framework and robust oversight growing louder, The Gambia is pivotal in its fight against illicit financial flows.
