By Tabora Bojang
The National People’s Party constituency chairman in Foni Bondali, Tumbul Touray has called on the government to investigate what he called acts by some immigration officers who “discretely deny Foni natives from acquiring national documents for political reasons.”
Touray, who made these allegations during President Adama Barrow’s meeting in Bondali Monday, said Immigration officers who don’t like the Barrow government are bent on doing every act to fan mistrust between the government and the people of Foni, where former president Yahya Jammeh came from.
“There are elements within the Immigration who have so much hate for this government to the extent that they are doing everything to sabotage it in the eyes of the people.
This act has been rearing its ugly head from 2016, and scores of people of Foni who went to seek for an ID Card have been rejected on the basis that they could either not provide documents of their parents or the language they speak. How can you ask someone who is a born citizen of this country and had all the previous national documents, to bring the documents of both his father and mother for an attestation to provide him with an ID Card? This is pure politics and it has never occurred under Jawara and Jammeh for over 50 years. Why now? If it was a constitutional provision, then why was it not implemented during the former regimes? I understand they are tactics they want to apply to eliminate the president’s political career aimed at reducing Foni’s voting power, because we have always been with the incumbent,” Touray alleged.
The NPP chairman further alleged that such acts of discrimination against Foni natives have been happening at Immigration posts in Brikama, Sibanor, Banjul and Kanifing, adding that they have strong evidence to prove it.
“We know the struggle NPP and APRC supporters face when it comes to documentation. They think that anyone who speaks Jola comes from Casamance but that is not true. There are Jolas born in this country for over 100 years, they are all Gambians,” he said. Touray said he raised these issues at the meeting to bring it to the attention of the Interior Minister Yankuba Sonko for his quick intervention and open investigation into the allegations.
