The Civic Scribe: Articles & Poems

BANJUL, The Gambia — When U.S. officials included The Gambia on a list of countries facing potential travel bans last week, the reason was unambiguous: America fears our passports cannot be trusted. This international rebuke exposes a devastating truth—The Gambia’s immigration system has become a bazaar where citizenship is auctioned to the highest bidder, threatening national security and trampling the dreams of our youth.

The evidence is no longer hidden. In a brazen undercover operation last September, a Gambian immigration officer at Serekunda Police Station negotiated the sale of a passport to a fictitious “Guinean cousin” for 13,000 Dalasi ($183). His only concern? Securing cash upfront. “I am the one to provide the documents,” Sergeant Lamin Touray declared, fully aware the applicant had no legitimate claim to Gambian identity. Such transactions unfold daily, while legal passports cost just $43. This corruption isn’t incidental; it is systemic.

The Roots of Rot

Three interlocking crises fuel this disaster:

1. Institutionalized Graft: Under former dictator Yahya Jammeh, document fraud became statecraft. Diplomats issued thousands of diplomatic passports to cronies, with 5,395 passports unaccounted for in official records. Today, President Adama Barrow’s administration perpetuates this legacy. Despite promising reform, his government reinstated a corrupt contract with Semlex—a Belgian firm accused of selling Comoros passports to sanctioned Iranians. Semlex controls 70% of profits from our biometric data, operates without oversight, and even secured a voter card contract ahead of elections, risking electoral integrity.
2. Judicial Impunity: Officers like Sergeant Touray operate with near-total impunity. Anti-corruption legislation remains stalled, while whistleblowers face retaliation. Barrow has purged critics from institutions, replacing competence with loyalty and ethnic favoritism.
3. Global Fallout: The U.S. travel ban warning—citing “widespread government fraud” and unreliable identity documents—is a direct consequence. If implemented, Gambians will join Syrians and Yemenis as global pariahs. This isolation will devastate a diaspora sending home $100 million annually and crush youth seeking opportunity abroad.

The Human Toll

Corruption isn’t abstract—it steals futures. When birth certificates and IDs are sold to foreigners, Gambians face rivals for jobs, schools, and clinics meant for citizens. When passports fund bureaucrats’ luxuries, hospitals lack medicines and schools crumble. No wonder Gambia suffers West Africa’s highest per-capita emigration rate. As many Gambians say: “Without bribes, you stay trapped.”

A Path to Redemption

The U.S. travel ban threat must be a wake-up call. To reclaim our sovereignty, Gambia must:

• Terminate the Semlex contract and launch transparent bidding for document management.
• Prosecute corruption networks, starting with officers caught selling passports, using biometric audits to trace illicit document trails.
• Accept U.S. and EU technical aid for border security in exchange for visa access, mirroring Ghana’s reforms.
• Empower the Anti-Corruption Coalition Gambia to monitor immigration offices with real-time bribery reporting tools.

President Barrow vowed to end Jammeh’s “state capture.” Instead, he presides over its evolution. When a U.S. memo names Gambia alongside Syria and Zimbabwe as security threats, we have not reformed—we have regressed.

Our passport should symbolize dignity, not despair. Unless we dismantle this kleptocracy, Gambians will keep fleeing on rickety boats—carrying nothing but resentment and citizenship papers bought from the very state that betrayed them.