It has been many months since The Gambia Immigration Department stopped issuing national identity cards to citizens. This, according to reports, as a result of the fact that the contract between the government and a company called Semlex has ended.
The contract between Semlex and the government was heavily criticised at the time with some citizens saying that it is not ideal for the government to contract a foreign entity to take the data of its citizens and store it outside the country. They cited security reasons among other things.
However according to the government, the contract was such that while Semlex would provide the hard and software needed, they would be giving the necessary training to officers of The Gambia Immigration Department who would naturally take over the production of the documents.
However, it seems that that training was not done as since the ending of the contract few if any ID cards have been issued. Whether that is due to lack of training of the materials needed is unclear. What is clear is the fact that thousands of Gambians are in need of this document and cannot get it.
With the advancement of technology now, it would be prudent for government to invest in the acquisition of the necessary equipment and facilitate the training of citizens so that the production and issuance of these important documents can be taken care of by the citizens themselves.
This move would have many advantages for the country in terms of security and finance. If the equipment is made available, Gambians have the skills and expertise to produce and issue ID cards, driver’s licence, voter’s cards and other needed documents.
It is imperative that the government takes this problem seriously and find a lasting solution. It is not ideal for citizens to suffer continuously over one thing and government fail to put mechanisms in place to resolve it
