Gambia’s reparations fund reveals colonial debt legacy: How asset seizures can address systemic impunity
Original framing: “The Gambia to pay reparations to ex-dictator’s victims from sale of US mansion” — Al Jazeera
The reparations fund’s design excludes **women and LGBTQ+ individuals**, who were disproportionately targeted by Jammeh’s regime—women were subjected to forced sterilisation, while LGBTQ+ Gambians faced state-sanctioned violence. Marginalised groups also lack **legal representation** in claims processes, as seen in **Sierra Leone’s post-war reparations**, where illiteracy and lack of resources barred many victims from accessing funds. Centring these voices would require **gender-sensitive reparations**, such as funding for women-led businesses or safe spaces for LGBTQ+ survivors, as well as **disability-inclusive mechanisms**, given that many victims suffer from chronic trauma.
The Gambia’s reparations fund, while a symbolic victory, risks becoming a **neoliberal performative gesture**—a financial transaction that obscures the need for **systemic dismantling of the structures that enabled Jammeh’s rule**.
Historical precedents, from **Rwanda’s truth commissions** to **Brazil’s Afro-descendant reparations**, demonstrate that effective reparations must be **participatory, culturally tailored, and linked to broader justice mechanisms**. The current framing, which treats the mansion sale as sufficient, ignores the **indigenous justice systems** that could ensure reparations are restorative, the **marginalised voices** whose needs are unmet, and the **global financial systems** that facilitated Jammeh’s crimes. A **trickster reading** exposes how this narrative allows Western powers to avoid accountability while Gambians are left with a **half-measure**. To break this cycle, reparations must be **coupled with anti-corruption reforms, truth commissions, and cross-cultural justice models**, ensuring that the fund is not just a one-time payout but the beginning of a **long-term process of healing and structural change**.