Yahya Jammeh, exiled former Gambian President, has vowed imminent return home from exile, despite attempts to prosecute him and his accomplices for alleged human rights crimes.

Jammeh’s 22-year rule over the West African nation was marked by gross human rights crimes such as killings, rape, arbitrary arrest, and torture. He was forced into exile in 2016 after losing the presidency to an opposition coalition led by political upstart Adama Barrow. 

Barrow’s coalition government established the Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, which was mandated to investigate human rights crimes committed between 1994 and 2017. The hearing spanned for 870 days and included 392 witnesses, perpetrators and experts.

In December 2024, authorities of the Economic Community of West African States approved establishment of a ‘Special Tribunal’ for The Gambia to prosecute crimes against humanity committed under Jammeh’s leadership.

In response, Jammeh described his prosecution efforts as a “bunch of nonsense”, vowing that his return to the country is imminent.

“They will not know when I come there because a dead person wouldn’t know. They talk as if they are talking to the Almighty Allah. Those who will be alive when I am coming; that would be a great day. Let them not run away. Whether anybody likes it or not by the grace of the Almighty Allah; I am coming.

“What they are saying is a bunch of nonsense. They are making the country suffer. The Gambians were proud of and they were respected wherever they went, but today they have become the laughingstock,” he said in an audio clip.

He also warned unnamed critics to be ready for his return which he said would be a “great day”.

“A day of our rendezvous is coming and it will be a day of accountability. So whatever you are relying on account for that. The day Allah designated for me to come I will come and let me find you there. Don’t run and in fact if you run anywhere I will find you there,” he added.

By Adama Makasuba