$11Million Dollars ''disappears'' as Gambia's Jammeh flees into exile

More than $11m (£8.8m) is missing from The Gambia's state coffers following the departure of long-time leader Yahya Jammeh, an adviser to President Adama Barrow has said.

Mai Ahmad Fatty said financial experts were trying to evaluate the exact loss.

Luxury cars and other items were reportedly loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane as Mr Jammeh left the country.

Mr Jammeh, who flew into exile after 22 years in power, has not commented on the allegations.

He had refused to accept election results but finally left after mediation by regional leaders and the threat of military intervention.President Barrow remains in neighbouring Senegal and it is not clear when he will return.

Mr 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."

He said Mr Jammeh had made off with nearly 500 million dalasis ($11.3m) in the past two weeks alone.

"That's a lot of money, considering that we spend about 200 million dalasis on required expenditure relating to payment of civil service and so forth," Mr Fatty told the BBC.Mr Fatty said officials at The Gambia's main airport had been told not to let any of Mr Jammeh's belongings leave the country.

However, two Rolls-Royces and a Bentley were flown out over the weekend, and 10 others were at the airport waiting to go, reports the BBC's Umaru Fofana from Banjul.

Reports said some of the former leader's goods were in Guinea where Mr Jammeh had stopped on his journey into exile.



Is that really Tinubu's private jet?