Jammeh is contesting the $ 22 million award to Carnegie Mineral (Gambia) Ltd. by ICSID

Astron Corporation Limited, parent company of Carnegie Mineral (Gambia) Ltd that won an arbitration case against the Jammeh regime has just announced that the Attorney General Office has filed an annulment application with the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The arbitration panel of the ICSID awarded Carnegie Mineral (Gambia) Ltd. approximately $ 22 million back in July of this year for breach of a mining contract by Yaya Jammeh.

According to a press release by Astron, the corporation was notified that The Gambia has submitted an application of annulment "on the grounds of the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, an arguments about admissibility and jurisdiction.   The ICSID do not have a n appeal process outside of the annulment of the award which the panel will take up.  It is not clear how soon the annulment process will take.

Speaking to someone familiar with the workings of the ICSID, the chances of the award being overturned is "next to nil." The application for annulment is therefore seen as a way of buying time by delaying any payment of such a huge sum just when the government of going through a budget crisis.