The US has sanctioned former
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of looting at least $50m (£37m)
of state funds before leaving office last January. He only agreed to leave
power after losing elections following pressure from West African mediators who
sent troops in the country to force his hand and he's now living in exile in
Equatorial Guinea.
A US Treasury statement said that
during his 22 years in power he had a “history of engaging in serious human
rights abuses and corruption”.
Jammeh created a terror and
assassination squad called the Junglers that answered directly to him. Jammeh
used the Junglers to threaten, terrorise, interrogate, and kill individuals
whom Jammeh assessed to be threats. During his tenure, Jammeh used a number of
corrupt schemes to plunder The Gambia’s state coffers or otherwise siphon off
state funds for his personal gain. Ongoing investigations continue to reveal
Jammeh’s large-scale theft from state coffers prior to his departure.”
Jammeh is among a host of world
figures blacklisted by the President Donald Trump’s administration, including a
business associate of Congolese President Joseph Kabila and an aide to South
Sudan’s leader Salva Kiir.
US Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin explained the new policy, saying the US wanted to take "a strong
stand against human rights abuse and corruption globally by shutting these bad
actors out of the US financial system.
"Treasury is freezing their
assets and publicly denouncing the egregious acts they’ve committed, sending a
message that there is a steep price to pay for their misdeeds.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com