Immigration Officer Charged with Corruption Over Alleged Illegal Passport Issuance

Two immigration officers have testified in the ongoing trial of an immigration official accused of receiving a bribe to facilitate the unlawful issuance of a passport to one Mbemba Drammeh.

The state has charged Musa D. Sanyang, an officer of the Immigration Department, with official corruption contrary to Section 86(a) of the Criminal Code. According to the bill of indictment, on 20 January 2025, while acting in his capacity as a public servant, Sanyang allegedly corruptly received D40,000 from one Musa Camara. The prosecution contends that the payment was intended to induce the illegal production of a machine-readable passport for Mbemba Drammeh.

When the matter came before the court, the prosecution called Mariama Colley, an immigration officer with 17 years of service and stationed in Banjul, as its first witness. She was sworn on the Holy Qur’an.

In her testimony, Colley recounted an incident in January 2025 involving the accused, who was her colleague. She stated that she was summoned to the police headquarters in connection with a passport application for Mbemba Drammeh. Upon examining the application form, she discovered that it had been processed by Musa Sanyang.

She explained that passport applications are reviewed by a four-member panel responsible for verifying supporting documents before appending their signatures. Colley testified that the form in question was first signed by Momodou Jallow, an SIS officer, and that she subsequently signed as the second panelist.

Colley further told the court that the printing room system indicates whether an applicant holds a valid or expired passport. She explained that where a passport is still valid, a police report is required before a new one can be issued, whereas no report is required if the passport has expired.

She informed the court that several officers were present in the printing room at the material time, including the accused, Alieu Jatta, Matina Jatta, Secka, Badou Njie, and Habibu Badjie.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel A. Jarju, Colley was asked whether she witnessed Musa Sanyang receiving money in relation to the passport. She responded that she did not see the accused receive any money from anyone for the printing of a passport. She further stated that although she had worked with the accused for less than a year, she had never heard of him being involved in corrupt practices prior to this case.

Following the conclusion of cross-examination, the witness was discharged.

The prosecution then called its second witness, Alieu Jammeh, an immigration officer with 30 years of service, currently posted at Bansang. He was duly sworn before giving evidence.

Jammeh testified that in January 2025, the Commissioner of Immigration, Amie Sey Kujabi, instructed him to report to the Serious Crime Unit. Upon arriving at Police Headquarters, he was informed that Mbemba Drammeh had been issued a passport. He told the court that despite being a panellist and investigation officer at the time, he had neither seen nor handled Drammeh’s application form.

He outlined the standard screening process, which includes interviewing applicants, verifying documents, and requiring signatures from two panellists before the Commissioner vets and approves the file. He added that officers Matina and P. Njie are responsible for vetting documents in the printing room.

Jammeh explained that the passport system is designed to generate an alert where an applicant already possesses a valid passport, categorising such cases as “problem files” that must be registered and investigated before any new passport can be printed.

During cross-examination, defence counsel asked Jammeh how long he had known the accused. He replied that he had only known him for a short period. He further confirmed that he had never heard of the accused being involved in corruption prior to the incident and that he did not witness the accused receiving D40,000 from Musa Camara.

Responding to a direct question from the defence as to whether he had seen or heard that the accused collected D40,000 to process the passport, Jammeh stated: “I have never seen him.”

The case was adjourned to 2 February 2026 at 9:00 a.m.