President Adama Barrow yesterday presented 40 brand new vehicles to the Ministry of Interior for onward distribution to security services to strengthen their mobility and operational capacity across The Gambia.
The Director General of the Gambia Immigration Department, Ebrima Mboop, said the fleet comprises 30 Ford Ranger cars and 10 Fiat Ducato vans, locally known as “Gele-Gele.”
According to him, the vehicles are the result of bilateral cooperation between The Gambia and Italy, particularly through the relationship between the Gambia Immigration Department and the Border Police of Italy’s Ministry of Interior, established in 2015.
He explained that this is not the first fleet received through the partnership, noting that 40 vehicles were previously provided in 2017.
DG Mboop said the inclusion of 10 Fiat Ducato vans is particularly important because Immigration officers have sometimes relied on hired “Gele-Gele” vehicles for law-enforcement activities.
Beyond vehicle support, Mboop highlighted ongoing capacity-building initiatives under the bilateral partnership, revealing about 20 Gambian Immigration Officers have travelled to Italy for training in document security, fraud detection, identification and document verification, as well as border management systems.
Mboop thanked the governments of The Gambia and Italy, as well as the Ministry of Interior, for their continuous support, reaffirming GID’s commitment to national development and improved service delivery.
