Assessing the effectiveness of public financial management systems

Last week, the authorities in Gambia obtained a court order to freeze and place a temporary hold on all known assets and companies directly linked to former President Yahya Jammeh. Accordingly, they have seized 86 bank accounts and 131 properties linked to the former President who lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea. His lavish lifestyle includes ownership of a private jet, a mansion in the United States and a fleet of expensive cars. The new government has accused the former President of massive fraud involving the siphoning off public money during his 22-year rule, including the withdrawal of $50 million from the Central Bank between 2006 and 2016. This in addition to over $8 million he withdrew from a bank account of a Foundation he had established but the money was not used to fund any of the Foundation’s activities.