An adviser to Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow has said that more than $11 million is missing from the state coffers following the departure of long-time leader Yahya Jammeh.
Mai Ahmad Fatty said financial experts were trying to evaluate the exact loss.
Luxury cars and other items were seen being loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane on the night Yahya Jammeh left The Gambia.
Yahya Jammeh flew into exile on January 21, ending his 22 years in power.
The former leader had refused to accept election results but finally left after mediation by regional leaders and the threat of military intervention.
President Adama Barrow remains in neighboring Senegal and it is not clear when he will return.
However, West African troops entered the Gambian capital, Banjul, on January 22 to prepare for his arrival.
Cheering crowds gathered outside the State House to watch soldiers secure the building.
The Senegalese general leading the joint force from five African nations said they were controlling “strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate… Mr. Barrow’s assumption of his role”.
Mai Ahmad Fatty told reporters in the Senegalese capital Dakar that The Gambia was in financial distress.
“The coffers are virtually empty,” he said.
“It has been confirmed by technicians in the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of the Gambia.”
Mai Ahmad Fatty said Yahya Jammeh had made off with more than $11 million in the past two weeks alone.
He said officials at The Gambia’s main airport had been told not to let any of Yahya Jammeh’s belongings leave the country.
Reports said some of Yahya Jammeh’s goods were in Guinea where he had stopped on his journey into exile.
Yahya Jammeh is reported to now be in Equatorial Guinea, although authorities there have not confirmed it.
The former president had initially accepted Adama Barrow’s election win on December 1st, but later alleged “irregularities” and called for a fresh vote.
The move was internationally condemned and the UN-backed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued an ultimatum for him to quit or be removed by force.
