By Tabora Bojang
Government has announced a significant fee increase on biometric passports fees- from D3060 to D5100.
The increment takes effect from 1st May, and it is the first major fee adjustment since the country began issuing biometric passports in 2014.
Information Minister Dr Ismaila Ceesay said on West Coast radio yesterday that the increment is “inevitable”, explaining further that the contract was signed under the Jammeh regime and has clauses which talk about the cost of passport overtime.
“Passport fees should have gone up to D4000 in 2023 but because government understood that was going to be expensive for many Gambians, it started subsidising the price.
Now, based on the contract in 2025 the price should go to D5100 and we are now ready to implement that,” Ceesay added.
According to him the contract was awarded to Africard in 2014 for them to build, operate and transfer the technology and the contract will end in 2029.
“This is one of the legacies of the Jammeh government. We are stuck with this contract and we don’t have a choice but to implement it,” Ceesay said.
The minister revealed that with the increment will come a decentralisation of enrollment centres created across the regions in the country and even abroad.
