The Gambian government has issued a strong warning to former President Yahya Jammeh, cautioning that he will face legal action for alleged crimes committed during his 22-year rule if he attempts to return from exile.
The warning follows Jammeh’s recent announcement that he plans to come “home” in November 2025. In a recorded message shared with thousands of his supporters in his hometown of Kanilai, Jammeh declared his intention to return and hinted at leading a faction of his former ruling party.
Although he did not provide a specific date, Jammeh claimed that his return was backed by an agreement involving the African Union (AU), ECOWAS, the United Nations (UN), and the European Union (EU). He also asserted that his exile was initially meant to last only six months.
Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 after a tense political standoff that followed the disputed 2016 presidential election, which he lost to Adama Barrow. After first conceding defeat, he later reversed his decision, triggering a constitutional crisis that ended only after regional mediation led to his departure.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Gambian government reaffirmed its stance that Jammeh will face “arrest, detention, and prosecution” should he return. Authorities emphasized that there is “no agreement granting immunity” to the former leader, despite his claims.
The statement acknowledged that every Gambian, including Jammeh, has the constitutional right to return to the country, a right recognized under international law. However, it stressed that such a right “does not exempt any individual from accountability for serious crimes supported by credible evidence and findings of the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC).”
The TRRC, established to investigate abuses committed during Jammeh’s presidency, linked him to widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances. The government reminded the exiled leader that he remains “a person of interest” in ongoing state investigations related to those abuses.
This is not the first warning to Jammeh. President Adama Barrow previously cautioned him against returning, following earlier remarks in which Jammeh expressed a desire to end his exile five years ago.
As political tensions simmer, Jammeh’s potential return threatens to reopen old wounds in a country still healing from the legacy of his authoritarian rule.
