The US Treasury announced that financial sanctions have been applied to the former First Lady of The Gambia, Zineb Souma Yahya Jammeh, who has been living in exile in Equatorial Guinea since February 2017. The US Treasury Department blames Zineb Souma Yahya Jammeh for using her child protection foundation as a front to “facilitate the illicit transfer of funds to her husband,” a statement said. For Reed Brody, legal counsel at HRW, the financial sanctions are significant because they show that the “noose is tightening” around the Jammeh family. This human rights activist hopes that once frozen and confiscated, these funds will be returned to compensate the victims of violence under the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. The same is true in The Gambia, where authorities accuse him of embezzling nearly $50 million from state coffers.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 17, 2020 12:00 UTC