Immigration Officer Sets Standards

    Deputy Immigration Director Seedy Touray!

The Deputy Director General of the Immigration Department Seedy Touray should be commended for refusing to accept bribes as well as set standards by exposing corrupt officials. I concur with someone who said Mr. Touray should be awarded with a ‘National Honour’.

Seedy was approached by agents of the immigration posted at ports after they had shared among themselves visa payment fees collected from visiting tourists who arrived at the Banjul ports on board a cruise ship. The immigration officers collected more than a million dalasi and decided to give Seedy Touray D40,00. Seedy demanded an explanation of why was given this amount. The officer in charge one Sambujang explained to him the source of the money but Seedy Touray immediately rejected the offer and asked all those involved to return their shares.

Seedy was frustrated in recovering the funds, forcing him write to the Director General of Immigration and copied the Ministry of Interior for the matter to be investigated. Sambujang told his colleagues that the Deputy Director has refused the offer. They decided to top up the amount to D100,000. The rounded figure of D100,000 was kept with Sambujang from the 11th of April up to the 19th April. The shipping Agency was given D300,000 while the Officers pocketed the other D300,000. A balance of seven hundred thousand was paid to the immigration account at the Central Bank.

Police investigators have reportedly started recovering the amounts shared amongst the immigration officers and that D300,000 was also recovered from the shipping agency.

It has been revealed that the original manifest of the passengers has been tampered with a view of reducing the number of tourists that arrived on board the ship. There is an standing balance of D30,000 yet to be recovered from one of the officer.

Sarjo M. Touray

Ends

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