The Gambia is selling several airplanes and a fleet of luxury cars belonging to former President Yahya Jammeh as it seeks to reduce crippling debts incurred during his decades-long authoritarian rule.

Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, fled The Gambia early last year as forces from West African neighbours were poised for military intervention to topple him after he refused to step down following an election loss to current President, Adama Barrow.

While most of his people struggled with poverty under his rule, Jammeh acquired vast wealth, much of which he packed into planes and carried with him into exile in Equatorial Guinea.

However, a fleet of exotic vehicles including several Rolls-Royces with Jammeh’s name embroidered on their red leather headrests were hurriedly left behind on the airport’s tarmac.

“The fleet of expensive vehicles at the State House and the three planes bought by former President Yahya Jammeh have been put on sale. My ministry will soon start publicizing the sales,” Amadou Sanneh, the country’s Finance Minister told the media.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had on Wednesday warned the Gambian government against any new borrowing after its debt stock reached 130 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of last year.

Most of the debt was contracted under Jammeh’s administration either through direct borrowing or the government’s taking on of the liabilities of state-owned enterprises.

Since taking office and discovering  empty government coffers, Barrow’s administration has worked to disentangle the country’s finances from Jammeh’s sprawling business empire.

Barrow set up a commission that probed Jammeh’s many properties – including an expansive estate that boasts of a mosque, a jungle warfare training camp and a vast private safari park -to establish an inventory with the aim of recovering looted assets.

The process has however faced criticism and condemnation from Jammeh’s political party and supporters who have accused Barrow’s government of carrying out a witch-hunt against the ex-president.