Reacting to the outcome of a ruling by the Paris-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which ordered The Gambia pay a total of twenty million British Pounds Sterling (£20 million) as compensation for damages caused to the West African Aquaculture Limited (WAA), foreign company based in the country, The Gambia Government has announced that it is considering various options including, but not limited to appealing the tribunal’s decision.
The legal matter involves the expropriation of Mr. and Ms. Hansson, WAA Shrimp Farming business in the West Coast villages of Pirang and Sanyang by former President, Yahya Jammeh on 3rd June, 2015. The Government announced ICSID’s verdict of the legal case, which lasted for six years, in a press release.
“After almost six years of deliberations, the tribunal ruled that former President Jammeh’s actions were unlawful and ordered The Gambia Government to compensate WAA, the sum of Eight Million, Seven Hundred Thousand, Two Hundred and Thirty-Three British Pound Sterling (£8, 700, 233.00) for damages. In addition, an 8% interest on the said sum compounded annually from 3rd June, 2015 to the date of payment plus cost and legal fees. The total award stands at more than Twenty Million British Pounds Sterling (£20 million),” the release stated.
It added that WAA’s proprietors referred the matter to the ICSID for arbitration following an unsuccessful negotiations with the Barrow administration in 2017 the.
“Crucially, this case exposes the consequences of former President Jammeh’s reckless disregard for the Rule of Law and his temperamental and arbitrary decisions that continue to negatively haunt the current administration,” Government charged.
Further in the release, Government, lamented it is still paying damages for similar cases awarded by international tribunals against the Government among them, ALIMANTA S.A., former operators of The Gambia Groundnut Corporation whose foreign management were arbitrarily arrested and expelled by Mr. Yahya Jammeh in 1998.
“As the Government acknowledges these colossal financial losses, President Adama Barrow, determined to guard against executive overreach particularly as they relate to operations of international businesses in The Gambia, reminds Government officials and Agencies to be always guarded by good faith, restraint and respect for the due process in the execution of their official duties”.
