By Tabora Bojang
The controversial issuance of national ID cards to Gambians abroad by the Gambia Immigration Department is continuing, with Guinea Bissau becoming the latest.
Interior Minister Abdoulie Sanyang informed lawmakers in September that following the successful issuance of national Identity cards to Gambians in Mauritania, Gabon and Togo, the government was going to dispatch another team to Guinea Bissau. He said there was a request made in Bissau for Gambians in that country to be served documents.
The scheme has been criticised by opposition and civic society groups who said the act does not make sense and is an attempt by the NPP government to rig the coming elections.
GID sources have informed The Standard, a team has recently been dispatched to Bissau and it conducted “enrollment” and returned to the country on 3rd November.
Asked how many individuals were registered in Bissau during the exercise, the official explained that only 89 people have been registered in Bissau. According to the official, a handful of applicants were rejected because they failed to present evidence to support their Gambian citizenship.
Our source added that the GID is very careful with this exercise, noting that “some people were rejected for only submitting mere attestations” and they “cannot rely on a mere attestation to issue an ID card”.
According to our source, the turnout of Gambians in Bissau was low because the exercise coincided with a rumoured foiled coup in the country, which prevented many people from leaving their residences.
